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LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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CITY  GOVERNMENT 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


TCbe  Hmerfcan  State  Series 


Eight  volumes  describing  comprehensively 
the  manner  in  which  the  Governmental  agen- 
cies of  the  American  State  are  organized  and 
administered. 

Edited  hy  W.  W.  WILLOUGHBY, 
Associate  Professor  of  Political  Science  at 
the  Jolius  Hopkins  University. 
Each  about  320  pages,  .$1.2.5  net. 


THE  AMERICAN  CONSTITUTIONAI,  SYSTEM. 
An  introduction  to  tlie  serit-s.  by  the  Editor. 

CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
By  K  .r.  GooDNOw.  Professor  of  Adniinistrative  Law, 
Columbia  University. 

PARTY  ORGANIZATION  By  .Jksse  Mact,  Profes- 
sor of  Political  Science  at  Iowa  College. 

THE  AMERICAN  EXECUTIVE  AND  EXECUTIVE 
METHODS.  By  President  J.  H.  Finlet,  College 
ot  the  City  of  New  York. 

AMERICAN  LEGISLATURES  AND  LEGISLA- 
TIVE METHODS.  By  Professor  Paul  R.  Reinsch, 
University  of  Wisconsin. 

THE  AMERICAN  .TUDICIARV.  By  Simeos  E. 
Baliiwi.v.  Associate  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Krr<jrs  utConnecticnt.  and  Profesaorof  Constitutional 
Law  in  Yale  University. 

TERRITORIES  AND  COLONIES.  By  W.  F.  Wil- 
LocGHBY,  Treasurer  of  Porto  Rico. 

LOCAL  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITEDSTATES 
(CITIES  EXCEPTED).  By  Professor  John  A. 
Faiblie,  University  of  Michigan. 


^bc  Ccnturg  Co.,  "Mew  ^ot\i 


(    DEC  It  1 
XEbe  Hmerlcan  State  Series  V 


CITY  GOVERNMENT 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


BY 


FRANK  J.  GOODNOW,  LL.  D. 

EATON  PROFESSOR  OF  ADMINISTRATIVE  LAW  AND 
MUNICIPAL  SCIENCE  IN  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


NEW  YORK 
THE  CENTURY  CO. 
1906 


Copyright,  1904,  by 
The  Century  Co. 


The  DeVinne  Press 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  Introductory  :  The  City  as  a  Social  Fact  ...  3 

Meanings  of  the  Term  "  City  "   3 

Cities  Formerly  not  Self-perpetuating   4 

Cause  of  Recent  Increase  of  Urban  Population   7 

Causes  of  Cities   9 

Character  of  Urban  Population   13 

Improvement  of  Urban  Conditions   19 

II  The  City  as  an  Organ  op  Government   22 

Political  Position  of  Cities   23 

City  Subordinated  to  the  State   25 

Municipal  Home  Rule   33 

Municipal  Functions   36 

Present  Position  of  Cities   39 

HI  The  Development  of  the  City  in  the  United 

States   43 

English  City  Government  in  the  Eighteenth  Century   43 

Early  American  City  Government   45 

Original  Sphere  of  Action  of  American  Cities   52 

Change  in  the  Position  of  American  Cities   55 

Legislative  Interference  with  Cities     57 

Change  in  the  Organization  of  Cities   59 

Board  System  of  City  Government   62 

Mayor  System  of  City  Government   65 

No  American  Type  of  City  Government   68 

IV  The  Position  op  the  City  in  the  United  States  .  co 

The  American  Administrative  System   69  ■ 

The  City  a  Creature  of  the  State  Legislature   73 

The  City  an  Authority  of  Enumerated  Powers   74 

Cities  Have  Lost  Tlieir  Autonomy   77 

Political  Parties  and  City  Government    79 

V 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PACiE 

V  State  Control  of  Cities  89 

Necessity  of  State  Control  of  Cities  89 

Constitutional  Limitation  of  Legislative  Power  91 

Prohibition  of  Special  City  Laws   93 

Necessity  of  Larger  Municipal  Powers  97 

Ineffectiveness  of  Legislative  Control  99 

Central  Administrative  Control  101 

Control  of  Political  Parties  103 

Separate  City  Elections  105 

VI  The  Participation  of  the  People  in  City  Gov- 

ernment  109 

Universal  Suffrage  for  City  Elections  109 

Elected  or  Appointed  City  Officers  113 

Referendum  and  Initiative  in  City  Matters  118 

Methods  of  Nomination  121 

Nomination  by  Petition  122 

Direct  Nomination  126 

Regulation  of  Parties  128 

City  Parties   130 

Fusion  in  New  York  City  130 

Chicago  Municipal  Voters'  League  132 

VII  The  City  Council  137 

Original  City  Organization  137 

Decay  of  City  Council  139 

Effects  of  the  Decay  of  City  Council  144 

Reaction  in  Favor  of  City  Council  146 

Present  Position  of  City  Council  154 

Manner  of  Election  156 

Term  of  Members  of  City  Council  160 

Powers  of  City  Council  161 

Ordinance  Power  of  Council  164 

Power  to  Determine  the  Sphere  of  Municipal  Actixity  167 

Financial  Powers  of  City  Council  169 

VIII  The  City  Executive  ne 

Position  of  Mayor   176 

Term  of  Mayor   182 

City  Civil  Service   183 

British  System   186 

United  States  System   189 

Boards  versus  Commissioners   191 

City  Administrative  Districts   200 


CONTENTS  vii 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

IX  Police  Administration   204 

Meaning  of  Term  "  Police  "   '-04 

City  Judicial  Functions  205 

City  Police  Justices   209 

Children's  Courts  211 

Importance  of  City  Courts  212 

Preservation  of  tlie  Peace  and  Order  214 

The  London  System  215 

Early  American  Systems  218 

Adoi)tiou  of  London  System  221 

Advantages  of  State  Police  223 

Police  Boards  versus  Commissioners  226 

Defects  of  American  Police  228 

Police  Licenses  234 

Public  Health  and  Safety  235 

Sanitary  and  Other  Orhinanees  236 

Organization  of  Health,  etc.,  Authorities  238 

State  Control  240 

Powers  of  Health,  etc. ,  Authorities  242 

Remedies  245 

X  Administration  of  Charities  and  Correction  .  .  248 

Early  Methods   248 

Separation  of  Charities  from  Correction  250 

Insane  Poor  251 

Municipal  Charities  252 

Organization  of  City  Poor  Authority  254 

State  Control  258 

XI  School  Administration  202 

Early  Methods   262 

Organization  of  City  School  Authorities  203 

Separation   of  Educational   from  Physical  Ailmiiiislratiou  of 

Schools  269 

State  Control   271 

XII  Public  Works  Administration  274 

Physical  Conditions  of  Cities  in  Olden  Times   274 

Modern  Conditions   275 

Organization  of  Public  Works  Authorities   276 

Necessity  of  Records   279 

American  Conditions   281 

Importance  of  Public  Works  in  Cities   283 


viii  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAfiE 

XIII  Financial  Administration  28o 

City  Receipts  286 

City  Tax  Authorities  289 

City  Assessors  290 

Local  Assessments  294 

City  Expenditures  295 

City  Budget  297 

City  Disbursing  Officers  299 

Auditing  of  City  Accounts   300 

xrv  Conclusions  302 

Index  309 


PREFACE 


In  two  little  books  entitled  "Municipal  Home  Rule" 
and  "Municipal  Problems,"  published  respectively 
in  1895  and  1898,  the  author  of  the  following  pages 
attempted,  in  some  cases,  somewhat  exhaustively,  the 
treatment  of  what  appeared  to  him  to  be  the  most  im- 
portant problems  connected  with  the  study  of  city 
government  as  they  presented  themselves  in  the  United 
States.  The  method  of  treating  these  questions,  on 
the  one  hand,  did  not  involve  a  systematic  exposition 
of  the  subject,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  did  involve  a 
comparison  of  American  institutions  with  those  of 
some  of  the  more  important  European  countries. 

In  the  book  now  presented  to  the  public  the  author's 
intention  has  been  to  confine  himself  almost  exclu- 
sively to  a  study  of  American  conditions  and  at  the 
same  time  to  broaden  the  scope  of  the  inquiry  so  as 
to  embrace  the  entire  field  of  city  government  so  far 
as  that  is  regarded  from  the  viewpoint  of  organiza- 
tion and  structure.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to 
describe  the  methods  adopted  by  different  Amer- 
ican cities  in  the  discharge  of  their  functions  of 
government  nor  to  comment  upon  the  success  or 

ix 


PREFACE 


failure  of  such  cities  in  the  attempts  which  they  have 
made. 

The  accomplishment  of  the  author's  purpose  has 
naturally  involved  a  treatment  of  some  of  the  subjects 
treated  in  the  books  to  which  allusion  has  been  made. 
Indeed,  in  some  cases  the  same  language  has  been  em- 
ployed. Such  repetition  was  possible  owing  to  the 
courtesy  of  the  Columbia  University  Press,  which 
has  kindly  permitted  the  author  to  borrow  from  his 
former  works  published  by  them  what  he  saw  fit. 

The  author  desires  in  closing  this  preface  to  ex- 
tend his  thanks  to  his  many  friends  who  have  aided 
him  in  his  work,  and  particularly  to  Professor  Leo 
S.  Rowe  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Pro- 
fessor W.  W.  Willoughby  of  Johns  Hopkins  Univer- 
sity, who  have  both  read  his  book  either  in  manuscript 
or  in  proof,  and  to  both  of  whom  he  is  indebted  for 
many  valuable  suggestions. 

Frank  J.  Goodnow. 

COLtJMBIA  UnIVEESITT, 

July  30,  1904. 


Z 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTORY:  THE  CITY  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACT^ 

Meanings  of  the  Term  "City."  The  term  "city"  has 
two  meanings:  the  one  sociological,  the  other  legal 
or  political.  When  we  speak  of  the  city  in  the  first 
sense  we  refer  to  it  as  an  aggregation  of  people  living 
within  a  comparatively  small  area.  When  we  use  the 
term  in  its  legal  or  political  meaning  we  have  refer- 
ence to  the  fact  that  the  city  constitutes  a  political 
unity— that  it  has  specific  political  duties  to  perform, 
and  for  that  purpose  is  endowed  by  the  state  with  more 
or  less  definite  legal  powers.  The  peculiar  social  con- 
ditions produced  by  urban  life,  to  a  very  considerable 
degree,  determine  the  form  of  the  political  organiza- 
tion of  the  city  and  the  extent  of  its  powers,  and  also 
exert  a  profound  influence  upon  the  manner  in  which 
its  government  is  administered  and  its  powers  exer- 
cised.   While,  therefore,  in  the  following  pages  we 

1  Authorities :  Giddings,  "Principles  of  Sociology;"  Weber, 
"  The  Growth  of  Cities  in  the  Nineteenth  Century ;  "  Columbia 
University  Studies  in  History,  Economics,  and  Public  Law,  Vol. 
XI ;  Abstract  of  the  12th  Census  of  the  United  States. 

3 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


shall  consider  the  city  mainly  from  the  legal  point  of 
view,  it  will  be  well  for  us  first  to  direct  our  attention 
to  some  of  the  more  important  consequences  flowing 
from  its  existence  as  a  social  fact. 

From  the  sociological  point  of  view,  the  city  be- 
longs to  that  class  of  phenomena  known  as  aggrega- 
tions of  individuals.  These  aggregations  may  be 
classified  as  internally  recruited  aggregations  and  ex- 
ternally recruited  aggregations.^  Internally  recruited 
aggregations  are  characterized  by  the  fact  that  they 
are  due  to  blood-relationship ;  externally  recruited  ag- 
gregations by  the  fact  that  they  are  aggregations  of 
strangers  drawn  together  by  some  cause  other  than 
the  attractions  of  blood-relationship. 

Cities  Formerly  not  Self-perpetuating.  If  we  attempt 
to  give  the  city  a  place  within  this  classification, 
we  must  say  that  until  very  recent  times  the  city  has 
been  an  externally,  rather  than  an  internally,  re- 
cruited aggregation.  This  has  been  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  sanitary  and  other  conditions  which  affect 
the  production  and  continuation  of  human  life  have 
been  such  in  cities  that,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
population,  cities  have  not  been  even  self-sustaining. 
That  is,  their  birth-rate  has  been  less  than  their  death- 
rate,  so  that,  had  it  not  been  for  the  immigration  into 
cities  from  the  rural  districts,  the  city  populations 
would  soon  have  been  depleted.^ 

iGiddings,  in  his  "Principles  of  Sociology,"  p.  93,  makes  the 
same  distinction  under  the  tenns  "genetic  aggregations"  and 
"  eongi'egations." 

2  See  Weber,  '■  The  Growth  of  Cities  in  the  Nineteenth  Century." 
On  p.  231  Dr.  Weber  says :  "  The  most  conclusive  evidence  of  a 

4 


INTRODUCTORY:   THE  CITY  AS  A  SOCIAL  PACT 


What  was  true  of  the  centuries  preceding  the  nine- 
teenth century  is  still  true  of  the  cities  of  many  coun- 
tries at  the  present  time.  Dr.  Weber,  whose  excellent 
work  on  "The  Growth  of  Cities  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century"  has  already  been  referred  to,  sums  up  his 
conclusions  on  this  point  as  follows:  "  In  France  the 
cities  do  not  sustain  themselves,  nor  do  many  of  the 
Italian  cities.  In  Germany,  Sweden,  Austria,  Hungary, 
etc.,  the  cities  furnish  from  one  fourth  to  one  half  of 
their  increase  according  to  size.  But  in  Great  Britain 
immigration  has  so  diminished  that  even  the  largest 
cities  provide  three  fourths  and  often  more  of  their 
increase.  In  the  United  States,  where  the  cities  now 
show  a  larger  natural  increase  than  do  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, there  is  still  a  vast  immigration, — four  or  five 
times  as  large  as  the  natural  increase. ' '  ^    That  cities 

large  migration  from  the  fields  to  the  towns,  however,  is  afforded 
by  the  bills  of  mortality  begun  in  several  cities  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries.  These  death  reports  formed  the  first  ma- 
terial of  the  new  science  of  demography  or  population  statistics, 
at  first  known  as  '  Political  Arithmetic'  Now  these  early  bills  of 
mortality  almost  uniformly  show  more  deaths  than  births  each 
year,  the  natural  result  of  which  would  be  the  decadence  of  the 
city.  But  on  the  contrary,  the  city  grew  ;  its  population  even  in- 
creased more  rapidly  than  the  rural  population.  The  simple  ex- 
planation of  such  a  state  of  affairs  was  a  large  emigration  from 
rural  districts  to  the  city.  And  this  was  the  conclusion  of  Captain 
John  Graunt,  the  founder  of  the  new  science.  He  estimated  the 
annual  immigration  to  London  tt)  be  6000  persons.  While  this 
number  is  purely  conjectural,  it  raises  a  very  strong  presump- 
tion that  migi-ation  to  the  metropolis  was  relatively  greater  250 
years  ago  than  it  is  to-day.  For,  between  1871  and  1881,  with  a 
population  of  nine  or  ten  times  as  large  as  in  1650,  London's  net 
immigration  amounted  to  less  than  11,000  per  annum." 
1  Ibid.,  p.  246. 

5 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


during  the  past  two  centuries  have  not  only  held  their 
own,  but  have  in  many  instances  increased  in  the  num- 
ber of  their  inhabitants,  is  particularly  true  of  the 
nineteenth  century.*  Finally,  it  is  to  be  noticed  that 
the  population  in  cities  increased  more  rapidly  in  the 
latter  part  than  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century.^ 

Several  conclusions  at  once  suggest  themselves  on 
the  consideration  of  these  facts.  The  first,  naturally, 
is  the  vast  and  rapidly  increasing  importance  of  city 

1  Thus  in  1801  in  England  and  Wales  the  percentage  of  the 
population  residing  in  cities  of  over  100,000  was  9.73 ;  in  cities 
of  over  10,000,  21.30.  The  percentages  for  the  year  1890  were 
respectively  31.82  and  61.73.  In  Prussia  in  1816  those  in  cities 
of  over  100,000  constituted  1.8  per  cent.,  in  1900  12.9  per 
cent,  of  the  population,  while  those  in  the  cities  of  10,000  and 
over  constituted  in  1816  7.25  per  cent.,  in  1890  30  per  cent, 
of  the  population.  What  is  true  of  England  and  Prussia  is  also 
true  of  France.  There  in  1801  2.8  per  cent,  and  in  1891  12  per 
cent,  of  the  population  lived  in  cities  of  100,000  and  over.  In 
the  former  year  9.5  per  cent.,  in  the  latter  year  25.9  per  cent, 
of  the  population  lived  in  cities  of  10,000  and  over.  In  the  United 
States  there  was  in  1800  no  city  of  100,000  inhabitants.  In  1890 
15.5  per  cent,  of  the  population  lived  in  cities  of  that  size.  In 

1800  3.8  per  cent.,  in  1890  27.6  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the 
United  States  lived  in  cities  of  10,000  and  over.  Ibid.,  p.  144, 
where  will  be  found  an  elaborate  table  covering  most  of  the 
countries  of  the  world. 

2  Thus  in  England  and  Wales,  while  the  percentage  of  the  pop- 
ulation in  cities  of  10,000  and  over  increased  in  the  period  from 

1801  to  1851  from  21.3  to  39.45,  during  the  period  from  1851  to 
1891  this  percentage  increased  from  39.45  to  61.73.  In  Prussia 
the  corresponding  percentages  were:  in  1816,  7.25;  in  1849, 
10.63;  and  in  1890,  30;  in  France  in  1801,  9.5;  in  1851,  14.4;  in 
1891,  25.9;  in  the  United  States  in  1800,  3.8;  in  1850,  12;  in 
1890,  27.6. 

6 


INTRODUCTORY:   THE  CITY  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACT 


life.  The  problems,  political  and  otherwise,  which 
city  life  involves  are  really  problems  which  hardly 
existed  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. The  second  is  that  some  causes  must  have  been 
at  work  in  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
not  at  work  before,  which  have  caused  the  enormous 
increase  in  city  population.  This  increase  is  too  rapid 
to  be  due  to  the  same  causes  to  which  the  increase 
prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
due. 

Cause  of  Recent  Increase  of  Urban  Population.  The 

first  sugfrestion  which  is  usually  made  as  to  the  cause 
of  this  rapid  increase  in  urban  population  is  an  in- 
creased immigration  to  the  cities  from  the  rural  dis- 
tricts. This  is  not,  however,  believed  to  be  the  cause. 
For,  as  has  been  shown,  immigration  into  cities  was  as 
characteristic  of  past  centuries  as  of  the  nineteenth, 
and  indeed  in  countries  like  Great  Britain,  apparently 
is  decreasing  at  the  present  time.  The  real  reason  for 
the  increase  is  to  be  found  in  the  improvement  of  sani- 
tary conditions  which  has  taken  place  within  the  cities 
during  the  whole  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  is 
going  on  with  increasing  rapidity  at  the  present  time. 
This  is  the  conclusion  reached  by  Dr.  Weber,  who 
says:  "The  manner  in  which  the  modern  growth  of 
cities  has  taken  place  is  rather  a  larger  natural  in- 
crease in  the  city  populations  themselves  (lower  death- 
rate  !)  than  an  increase  in  immigration  from  rural  dis- 
tricts; the  current  of  migration  cityward  has  been 
observed  for  several  centuries,  but  it  is  only  in  the 
nineteenth  century  that  any  considerable  number  of 

7 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


cities  have  had  a  regular  surplus  of  births  over 
deaths."! 

What  significance  to  us  now  does  this  change  in  the 
cause  of  the  increase  of  urban  population  have?  Jt 
is  that  cities  are  somewhat  changing  their  character, 
and  are  being  recruited  from  within  instead  of  from 
without.  This  change  in  the  sociological  character  of 
cities  must  have  an  important  result  on  their  political 
organization.  For  capacity  for  local  self-government 
is  due  in  large  part  to  the  existence  of  neighborhood 
feeling  and  friendly  relationships  which  arise  from 
inherited  traditions.  The  population  which  existed 
in  large  cities,  prior  to  1800,  was  certainly  not  of  the 
kind  in  which  we  should  expect  a  form  of  government 
based  on  this  neighborhood  feeling  and  these  friendly 
relationships  to  be  highly  developed.  In  so  far,  how- 
ever, as  external  is  giving  place  to  internal  aggrega- 
tion, we  may  expect  that  this  neighborhood  feeling 
and  these  friendly  relations  will  have  a  greater  oppor- 
tunity for  development.  It  may  well  be  that  the 
greater  interest  in  municipal  problems  and  the  im- 
provement of  municipal  government  by  which  the 
latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  charac- 
terized, were,  in  large  part,  due  to  the  difference  in 
the  character  of  the  city  population  which  has  re- 
sulted from  the  substitution  of  internal  for  external 
aggregation  as  the  method  of  increasing  the  city  pop- 
ulation. It  is  certainly  significant  that  the  cities  of 
both  England  and  Germany,  which  show  the  effect 
of  this  movement  more  than  do  those  of  any  other 
"  Ibid.,  p.  283. 
8 


INTRODUCTORY:   THE  CITY  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACT 


country,  made  such  marked  improvement  in  their 
government  during  the  nineteenth  century. 

Causes  of  Cities.  But  whatever  may  have  been  or 
may  be  the  character  of  cities,  vphether  as  aggrega- 
tions they  are  recruited  from  within  or  from  without, 
the  mere  presence  of  the  aggregation  demands  ex- 
planation. What  now  are  the  causes  which  either 
bring  about  the  congregation  of  people  in  a  city  or 
permit  the  increase  of  its  population?  It  may  be 
said,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  cause  must  be  a  per- 
manent one.  Mere  temporary  congregations  of  people 
will  not  result  in  the  establishment  of  a  city  of  any 
permanence.  Thus  that  kind  of  immigration  which  is 
due,  for  example,  to  the  discovery  of  an  oil-well  or  a 
mine,  will  not  result  in  the  formation  of  permanent 
municipalities,  unless  the  oil-well  continues  perma- 
nently to  flow,  or  unless  there  be  an  almost  inexhausti- 
ble supply  of  ore,  or  unless  other  conditions  are  pres- 
ent which  make  for  permanence  in  settlement. 

The  only  conditions  where  these  permanent  con- 
gregations of  people  are  possible  are  those  which  both 
permit  and  require  a  great  division  of  labor.  No  city 
can  exist  in  a  country  where  a  considerable  proportion 
of  the  population  cannot  live  without  direct  recourse 
to  agriculture.  A  considerable  urban  population  is 
possible  only  in  two  cases :  first,  where  the  cities  them- 
selves are  situated  in  a  country  of  great  fertility  upon 
which  they  may  rely ;  or,  second,  where  the  means  of 
transportation  are  so  highly  developed  that  the  cities 
may  obtain  with  reasonable  cheapness  their  food  sup- 

9 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


ply  from  a  distance.  In  former  times,  when  trans- 
portation was  difiBcult,  both  because  of  its  undevel- 
oped character  and  because  of  the  dangers  of  war, 
cities  could  develop  only  under  the  first  conditions 
mentioned.  In  modern  times,  however,  it  is  possible 
for  conditions  to  exist,  such  as  we  have  seen  exist  in 
England  and  Wales,  where  much  more  than  50  per 
cent,  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  live  in  cities 
of  ten  thousand  and  over. 

Cities  are  then  possible  only  when  men  may  live 
from  other  pursuits  than  agriculture ;  only  when  from 
the  agricultural  point  of  \new  there  is  a  large  surplus 
population.  What  now  are  the  reasons  which  cause 
this  surplus  population  to  settle  in  any  particular 
spot  ?  In  other  words,  what  are  the  reasons  why  cities 
are  located  in  the  places  in  which  we  find  them  ?  These 
reasons  are  three  in  number.  They  are :  first,  com- 
mercial ;  second,  industrial ;  and  third,  political.  Fa- 
cilities for  transportation  are  not  merely  some  of  the 
most  important  causes  of  the  development  of  cities 
generally ;  they  are  as  well  the  causes  why  cities  grow 
up  and  flourish  in  particular  places.  It  is  to  secure 
such  facilities  that  cities  are  founded  at  some  place  on 
the  ocean,  or  other  great  body  of  water,  where  there  is 
a  favorable  situation  for  the  receipt  and  shipment  of 
merchandise.  The  mere  shipment  and  receipt  of  such 
merchandise  offer  emploj-ment  to  many  people.  But 
further,  the  business  subsidiary  to  commerce,  such  as 
banking,  insurance,  etc..  aids  in  attracting  to  such 
commercial  centers  those  who  are  looking  for  work. 

In  the  second  place,  the  use  of  machinery  has  been 
and  now  is  of  the  greatest  importance  in  attracting  an 

10 


INTRODUCTORY-  THE  CITY  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACT 


urban  population.  For  this  reason  all  places  which 
are  favorably  situated  for  the  development  of  the 
power  necessary  to  drive  machinery  tend  to  become 
centers  of  population. 

So  far  as  transportation  facilities  or  means  of  power 
are  removed  from  a  state  of  nature,  so  far  of  course 
do  the  natural  advantages  cease  to  attract  population. 
Thus,  so  far  as  transportation  is  conducted  more  ad- 
vantageously by  rail  than  by  water,  so  far  do  the 
natural  advantages  of  the  seaport  or  the  river  town  as 
a  center  of  population  diminish.  Again,  so  far  as 
steam  replaces  water-power  to  that  extent  does  the 
neighborhood  of  a  waterfall  cease  to  be  chosen  as  a 
town  site.  At  the  same  time  iu  is  well  to  remember 
that  natural  conditions  are  apt  always  to  exercise  an 
important  influence  on  urban  population.  For  rail- 
ways are  built  only  where  the  topography  of  the  coun- 
try will  permit,  and  the  development  of  steam-power 
is  possible  only  where  coal  can  be  conveniently  ob- 
tained. 

Finally  it  must  be  admitted  that  cities  which  are 
unfavorably  situated  for  either  commerce  or  industry 
still  have  been  founded  and  continue  to  flourish.  At 
the  time  of  their  origin  they  may  have  been  so  situ- 
ated as  to  be  able  to  share  in  the  existing  commerce 
and  industry.  Later  on  new  commercial  and  industrial 
conditions  may  have  sprung  up  to  which  they  could 
not  accommodate  themselves.  Yet  other  causes  may 
have  enabled  them  to  overcome  their  disadvantages. 
This  is  particularly  true  of  political  centers  which 
may  continue  to  exist  and  increase  in  population,  al- 
though situated  unfavorably  from  the  point  of  view 

11 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


of  existing  industrial  and  commercial  conditions.  In- 
deed if  we  look  at  the  political  capitals  of  the  world, 
which,  with  very  few  exceptions,  are  not  naturally  fa- 
vorably situated  for  trade  or  manufacture,  we  cannot 
but  feel  that  the  political  causes  of  urban  growth  are 
of  the  greatest  importance.  In  the  case  of  one  city, 
namely  AVashington,  the  political  causes  seem  to  have 
been  the  only  causes  for  the  urban  development. 
Washington  has  practically  no  trade,  absolutely  no 
manufactures,  and  yet  is  continually  growing  in  popu- 
lation. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
saying  of  Cowper  that  "God  made  the  country,  and 
man  made  the  town,"  is  probably  true  in  a  sense  which 
he  did  not  intend ;  that  is,  the  location  of  cities  is  due 
very  largely  to  what  we  may  call  artificial  causes. 
This  is  particularly  true  since  the  development  of  the 
modern  business  of  transportation  by  means  of  canals, 
highways,  and  railways.  It  is  still,  of  course,  the 
case  that  cities  situated  on  large  bodies  of  water,  such 
for  example  as  the  oceans  or  bodies  like  the  Great 
Lakes,  have  natural  advantages  which  cannot  be  over- 
come by  anything  that  man  can  do.  But  apart  from 
such  cities  it  may  safely  be  said  that  the  reasons  for 
urban  growth  are  often  to  be  found  in  the  favorable 
situation  of  given  areas  for  transacting  the  commer- 
cial business  of  a  given  period.  This  favorable  posi- 
tion may  be  due  not  to  natural  but  to  artificial  causes. 
Cities  which,  at  one  time,  were  favorably  situated 
from  this  point  of  view  lose  the  advantages  of  their 
situation,  owing,  either  to  the  discovery  of  methods 
of  natural  transportation  which  were  at  one  time  un- 

12 


INTKODUCTORY:   THE  CITY  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACT 


known,  or  to  some  change  in  the  method  of  transpor- 
tation which  has  been  due  solely  to  the  work  of  man. 
This  fact  accounts  largely  for  the  rise  and  fall  of  those 
great  cities  of  antiquity,  whose  situation  we  now 
know  only  from  the  presence  of  the  ruins  of  their  most 
important  bviildings.  This  fact  again  accounts  for 
the  greater  degree  of  prosperity  which  existing  cities 
have  had  at  different  times  in  their  history.  Palmyra, 
at  one  time  the  center  of  the  trade  between  the  Orient 
and  the  Roman  Empire,  now  offers  to  the  view  of 
the  adventurous  traveler  merely  a  few  ruins  in  the 
midst  of  a  sandy  waste.  Venice,  at  one  time  the 
mistress  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the  commercial 
center  of  Europe,  became,  with  the  discovery  of 
the  all-water  route  to  India,  a  city  of  only  secon- 
dary importance.  Genoa,  whose  history  resembles 
that  of  Venice,  is,  since  the  completion  of  the 
Suez  Canal,  becoming  again  a  city  of  commercial 
importance. 

Character  of  Urban  Population.  The  nature  of  the 
motives  which  bring  about  an  aggregation  of  popula- 
tion cannot  fail  to  have  an  important  effect  upon  the 
character  of  the  population.  Making  their  living,  as 
they  do,  from  commercial,  industrial,  and,  so  to 
speak,  political  occupations,  the  inhabitants  of  cities 
can  hardly  fail  to  be  molded  in  their  character  and 
intellectual  qualities  by  the  influences  of  commerce, 
industry,  and  politics.  Now  it  must  be  admitted  that 
while  commerce  and  industry  tend  to  develop  intelli- 
gence, it  may  well  be,  as  compared  with  the  occupa- 
tions of  rural  life,  they  do  not  develop  that  character 

13 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


which  lies  at  the  basis  of  good  government. ^  The 
larger  part  of  the  population  of  cities  may  become 
very  expert  in  some  detailed  line  of  work,  but  it  may 
well  be  doubted  whether  such  expertness  is  accom- 
panied by  that  breadth  of  view  which  is  apt  to  be 
developed  in  a  man  whose  daily  task  embraces  more 
varied  experiences.  Furthermore,  the  division  of  la- 
bor which  lies  at  the  basis  of  city  life,  it  would  seem, 
tends  to  develop  in  the  city  inhabitant  an  inability  to 
take  care  of  himself.  If  disorder  occurs  in  a  city  it  is 
to  be  put  down  by  a  professional  police  force ;  if  a  fire 
breaks  out  it  is  to  be  extinguished,  again,  by  a  profes- 
sional fire  service ;  if  contagious  disease  appears  it  is 
to  be  dealt  with,  again,  by  a  professional  health  de- 
partment. In  a  word,  city  life  not  only  encourages 
narrowness  of  views,  but  also  favors  the  development 
of  habits  of  submission  to  government.  It  tends  to 
make  good  subjects  rather  than  good  governors. 

Property  appears  to  be  much  more  unequally  dis- 
tributed in  the  urban  than  in  the  rural  communities. 
This  is  certainly  true  in  the  United  States.  The  cen- 
sus of  1900  shows  that  64.4  per  cent,  of  the  farm 
families  own  their  own  homes,  while  only  35.6  per 
cent,  hire  their  homes.  In  the  case  of  families  other 
than  farm  families,  the  figures  are  almost  reversed. 
Only  36.3  per  cent,  of  such  families  own  their  homes, 
while  63.7  per  cent,  of  such  families  hire  their  homes.^ 

'See  Hobson,  "The  Evolution  of  Modern  Capitalism,"  pp. 
338-339,  quoted  by  Weber,  op.  cit.,  p.  399. 

^  In  the  largest  cities  the  percentage  of  persons  owning  their 
own  homes  is  almost  incredibly  smaU.  Thus  in  New  York  only 
12.1  per  cent,  of  the  families  resident  in  the  city  own  their 

14 


INTRODUCTORY:   THE  CITY  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACT 


The  degree  to  which  family  life  is  affected  by  the 
conditions  existing  in  cities  is  seen  from  the  tables  of 
the  census  of  1900  relative  to  dwellings  and  families. 
The  average  number  of  persons  to  a  dwelling  in  the 
United  States  as  a  whole  is  5.3.  In  cities  of  25,000  in- 
habitants and  over,  the  average  is  6.8.    In  the  city  of 

homes,  the  balance  of  87.9  per  cent,  being  renters.  In  the 
boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx  only  5.9  per  cent,  own 
their  homes,  and  less  than  half  of  this  number,  namely  2.3 
per  cent.,  own  their  homes  free  and  clear  of  mortgage.  The 
percentages  of  the  families  owning  their  homes  in  some  of  the 
other  large  cities  in  the  United  States  are  as  follows : 


Cities 

Owning  Homes 

Free  from  Mortgage 

,  ,   27.9  per  cent.  . 

. .  .  20.5  per  cent. 

Boston   

18.9 

( <    ( ( 

...  9.2 

t  t         t  i 

Buffalo   

3-^9 

t  i  (I 

. . .  15.8 

i  i      (  ( 

Chicago   

25.1 

( (    f  < 

. . .  11.9 

( {      ( t 

20.9 

(I    i  i 

. .  .  13.9 

t  t      I  ( 

Cleveland  

37.4 

1 1  II 

. .  .  21.3 

t  i      t  ( 

39.1 

11  11 

. . .  22.5 

it      <  ( 

Indianapolis  .  .  . 

33.7 

II  II 

. . .  18.1 

<  <      ( t 

35.9 

II  II 

. . .  16.5 

it  it 

Minneapolis   .  . . 

28.7 

II  II 

. .  .  16.1 

it  ti 

New  Orleans  .  . . 

22.2 

II  II 

. .  .  19.1 

Philadelphia  .  .  . 

"2.1 

II  II 

. .  .  12.1 

it  it 

Pittsburg   

27.2 

II  II 

. . .  15.2 

it  ii 

San  Francisco  . 

.  24.1 

II  II 

. . .  16 

tt  ii 

St.  Louis  

22.8 

II  II 

. .  .  14.2 

it  ii 

The  city  in  the  United  States  having  over  25,000  inhabitants 
which  has  the  highest  percentage  of  home-owning  families  is 
Akron,  Ohio,  with  a  population  of  about  43,000.  Here  53.7 
per  cent,  of  the  families  own  their  homes.  The  city  of  over 
25,000  inhabitants  having  the  lowest  percentage  of  home-own- 
ing families  is  Hoboken,  N.  J.,  with  a  population  of  60,000. 
Here  9.6  per  cent,  of  the  families  own  their  homes. 

15 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


New  York  it  is  13.7,  while  in  the  boroughs  of  Man- 
hattan and  the  Bronx  it  is  20.4.^ 

It  is  difficult  to  reach  any  very  definite  conclusions 
as  to  the  effect  on  the  political  capacity  of  the  popu- 
lation of  cities  of  this  greater  inequality  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  property  which  is  to  be  found  in  cities 
or  as  to  the  degree  to  which  family  life  is  permitted 
by  the  conditions  obtaining  within  cities.  As  to  the 
latter  point  it  will  be  noticed  in  the  figures  given  that 
in  quite  a  number  of  instances  the  number  of  persons 
to  a  dwelling  is  very  little,  if  any,  greater  in  even 
some  of  the  larger  cities  than  it  is  throughout  the 
country  as  a  whole.  As  to  the  former  point,  it  is 
rather  interesting  to  note  that  in  some  of  the  cities— 
for  example,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  and  Philadelphia— 
whose  governments  are  not  usually  regarded  as  of 
the  best,  the  percentage  of  home-owning  families  is  a 
comparatively  large  one. 

Formerly  it  was  believed  by  many  that  city  life  had 
a  bad  influence,  not  merely  on  social  and  political 
character,  if  we  may  speak  of  it  in  that  way,  but  as 
well  on  individual  character,  both  from  the  physical 
and  the  moral  point  of  view.  It  is  doubtful,  however, 
if  there  is  anything  in  city  life  which  inherently  and 
inevitably  conduces  to  physical  or  moral  degeneracy. 
So  far  as  the  former  is  concerned  it  may  be  pointed 

'  The  average  number  of  persons  to  a  dwelling  in  the  other 
large  cities  of  the  United  States  is:  Baltimore,  5.7;  Boston, 
8.4;  Buffalo,  7.1;  Chicago,  8.8;  Cincinnati,  8;  Cleveland,  6; 
Detroit,  5.5 ;  Indianapolis,  4.7 ;  Milwaukee,  6.2 ;  Minneapolis, 
6.4;  New  Orleans,  5.4;  Philadelphia,  5.4;  Pittsburg,  6.3;  San 
Francisco,  6.4;  St.  Louis,  7. 

16 


INTRODUCTORY:  THE  CITY  AS  A  SOCIAL  PACT 


out  "that  the  believers  in  town  degeneracy  base  their 
arguments  on  antiquated  statistics.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  down  to  very  recent  times  the  health  of 
urbanites  compared  unfavorably  with  that  of  men 
who  worked  in  the  open  air,  just  as  their  death-rates 
did.  But  in  the  last  quarter  century  the  evidence  in 
both  eases  has  changed.  In  1874  a  French  authority 
declared  that  fitness  for  army  service  depends  less  on 
the  density  of  population  than  on  wealth,  climate, 
daily  life.  Health  and  vigor  may  always  be  preserved 
if  men  in  cities  will  make  proper  provision  for  open- 
air  exercise,  cleanliness,  and  a  pure  food  supply. 
It  is,  however,  true  that  the  death-rate  of  cities  is  still 
higher  than  that  of  the  rural  districts.  The  last  cen- 
sus of  the  United  States  shows  that  the  death-rate  of 
the  rural  districts,  of  which  statistics  were  obtained, 
was  15.4 ;  that  of  the  urban  districts,  18.6  per  thou- 
sand.^ 

'  Weber,  op.  cit.,  p.  395.  Dr.  Weber  gives,  in  a  note,  certain 
statistics  taken  from  the  three  densest  departments  of  France, 
comparing  them  with  the  three  least  dense.  In  these  statis- 
tics it  is  shown  that  the  number  of  men  who  had  to  be  ex- 
amined to  secure  one  thousand  soldiers  was  less  in  the  former 
than  in  the  latter. 

The  city  in  the  United  States  recorded  in  the  census  as 
having  the  highest  death-rate  is  Natchez,  Miss.,  which,  with 
a  population  of  a  little  over  12,000,  has  a  death-rate  of  39.7 
per  thousand.  The  city  having  the  lowest  death-rate  is  St. 
Joseph,  Mo.,  which,  with  a  population  of  nearly  103,000,  has 
a  death-rate  of  9.1  per  thousand.  Most  of  the  Southern  cities 
of  the  United  States  have  a  high  death-rate,  which  is  largely 
due  to  the  great  mortality  among  the  colored  population.  The 
lowest  death-rates  are  found  in  the  cities  of  the  Northwest, 
which  contain  a  large  population  of  young  people. 
2  17 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


So  far  as  concerns  moral  degeneracy,  all  that  can  be 
said  is  that  city  life  conduces  to  certain  forms  of  vice 
and  crime  while  country  life  seems  to  favor  the  devel- 
opment of  other  forms.^ 

Our  review  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  qualities 
which  seem  to  be  especially  favored  by  city  life  would 
seem  to  force  the  conclusion  that  city  life  with  its 
lack  of  neighborhood  feeling  and  of  inherited  tradi- 
tions, its  intellectual  narrowness,  its  habits  of  sub- 
mission to  government,  and  the  great  inequality  in  the 
distribution  of  wealth,  is,  notwithstanding  the  possibil- 
ity of  reasonably  healthy  and  moral  conditions,  on  the 
whole  not  favorable  to  the  development  of  good  gov- 
ernment. 

While  the  social  qualities  developed  by  city  life  are 
not  thus  those  which  favor  the  development  of  good 
government,  the  kind  of  government  which  must  be 
carried  on  by  cities  is  of  the  most  complex  and  diffi- 
cult type.^  It  is  small  wonder  then  that  city  gov- 
ernments fall  far  short  of  what  is  demanded  of  them. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  city  government  is  on  the 
whole  the  worst  kind  of  democratic  government. 

For  a  long  time  many  thinking  people  have  been 
conscious  of  the  failure  of  city  government,  and  of 
the  demoralizing  influences  on  character  of  city  life. 
This  was  one  of  the  contentions  of  Thomas  Jefferson, 
who  regarded  the  development  of  cities  in  this  country 
as  presenting  one  of  the  most  serious  obstacles  possi- 
ble to  good  government,  and  particularly  to  good  dem- 
ocratic government.   The  consciousness  of  these  influ- 

*  Weber,  op.  cit.,  p.  399  et  seq. 
'  See  infra,  p.  114. 

18 


INTRODUCTORY:  THE  CITY  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACT 


enees  had  for  its  effect  the  development  of  a  distinctly 
pessimistic  view  of  the  situation.  It  was  then  decided 
that  cities  were  distinctly  and  inherently  bad,  but 
with  the  nineteenth  century  a  somewhat  more  hopeful 
view  has  come  to  be  entertained. 

Improvement  of  Urban  Conditions.  Attention  has  al- 
ready been  called  to  the  improvement  which  has  been 
made  in  the  sanitary  conditions  of  cities.  This  im- 
provement is  so  marked  that  a  city  need  no  longer 
be  regarded  as  a  devouring  monster  for  whose  exis- 
tence the  rural  population  is  sacrificed.  But  it  is  not 
alone  the  sanitary  conditions  of  cities  that  have  been 
improved.  A  similar  improvement  may  be  noticed  in 
the  intellectual  and  moral  conditions.  At  any  rate  it 
cannot  be  questioned  that  serious  attempts  are  being 
made  to  bring  about  an  improvement  in  these  condi- 
tions. These  attempts  are  being  made  both  by  city 
governments  and  by  private  voluntary  effort  on  the 
part  of  city  dwellers.  City  governments  have  very 
generally,  during  the  nineteenth  century,  and  particu- 
larly during  the  latter  half  of  that  century,  been 
spending  vast  sums  of  money  in  order  to  offer  to  their 
citizens  greater  opportunities  for  intellectual  develop- 
ment and  mental  and  physical  recreation.  The  well- 
developed  school  systems,  the  great  public  libraries,  the 
lecture  courses,  public  concerts,  botanical  and  other 
gardens,  the  means  of  recreation  offered  in  the  uni- 
versally present  public  parks  and  playgrounds  are  all 
evidences  of  the  change  from  the  feeling  of  hopeless- 
ness with  regard  to  the  future  of  cities  which  was  char- 
acteristic of  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

19 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


They  all  show  that  hopelessness  has  given  place  to  ef- 
fort, with  results  that  cannot  as  yet  be  entirely  mea- 
sured.^ 

The  effort  which  has  been  made  to  improve  the  con- 
ditions of  cities  has  not  been  confined  to  the  city  gov- 
ernments. Municipal  citizens  have  voluntarily  banded 
together  in  various  associations  for  the  improvement 
of  urban  conditions.  In  almost  all  cities  of  any  size 
charitable  and  other  organizations  have  been  formed 
to  improve  the  lot  of  the  poorer  classes  of  city  dwellers. 
A  great  deal  is  now  being  said  and  written  about  the 
city  beautiful  which  not  so  many  years  ago  would 
have  met  with  nothing  but  contemptuous  silence  had 
it  not  encountered  actual  derision.  Now,  however,  the 
result  of  such  efforts  is  the  formation  of  municipal 
art  societies  whose  purpose  is  to  guide  the  cities  in 
the  right  direction,  from  the  artistic  point  of  view,  in 
the  undertaking  of  public  improvements.  Again,  the 
social  settlement  idea,  which  has  found  its  application 
in  almost  all  the  large  cities  in  this  country  as  well 
as  in  some  of  the  old  world,  is  an  evidence  that  people 
are  not  only  conscious  of  the  disadvantages  accom- 
panying city  life  for  the  vast  majority  of  city  dwellers, 
but  also  are  trying  to  counteract  these  disadvantages 
by  voluntary  associations.  These  social  settlements 
promote  the  feeling  of  neighborhood  which  is  so  neces- 
sary to  good  government,  and  offer  to  the  hard-worked 
and  poorer  classes  of  our  municipal  citizens  oppor- 
tunities for  social  intercoixrse  and  recreation  of  which 
they  would  otherwise  be  almost  wholly  deprived. 

'  As  to  what  has  been  done  in  this  direction  by  American 
cities,  see  Ziieblin,  ' '  American  Municipal  Progress. ' ' 

20 


INTRODUCTORY:   THE  CITY  AS  A  SOCIAL  FACT 


Whether  the  efforts  which  thus  have  been  made  to 
offset  the  necessary  disadvantages  of  city  life  will 
meet  with  the  success  which  it  is  hoped  will  attend 
them,  it  is  as  yet  too  early  to  say.  At  any  rate  we 
may  congratulate  ourselves,  at  this,  the  beginning  of 
the  twentieth  century,  that  we  have  abandoned  the 
hopeless  resignation  which  was  so  marked  one  hun- 
dred yeai"s  ago.  It  is  true  the  difficidty  and  complex- 
ity of  the  municipal  problem  have  vastly  increased  in 
that  hundred  years,  but  we  are  girding  ourselves  for 
the  struggle  with  a  hope  that  augurs  well  for  the 
future. 

Attention  has  been  called  both  to  the  great  impor- 
tance of  city  life  in  modern  conditions  and  to  the  im- 
portant part  which  the  city  government  has  played 
in  the  improvement  of  the  environment  of  city  dwell- 
ers. It  must  also  be  said  that  much  of  the  improve- 
ment in  that  environment  which  has  been  made  could 
not  have  been  made  except  through  governmental 
agencies.  Voluntary  effort  may  accomplish  much, 
but  all  that  requires  the  exercise  of  the  sovereign  pow- 
ers of  compulsion,  as,  for  example,  in  the  matter  of 
sanitation,  must  be  done,  if  done  at  all,  by  govern- 
mental agencies.  It  will  therefore  be  seen  that  the 
city  must  be  studied  not  merely  from  the  sociological 
point  of  view,  but  also  from  the  political  point  of 
view.  The  city  is  not  merely  an  urban  community,  a 
social  fact ;  it  is  also  a  political  organization,  an  organ 
of  government. 


21 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  GOVERNMENT  ^ 

When  we  study  the  city  simply  as  a  social  unit  we 
may,  so  to  speak,  consider  it  in  isolation.  That  is  to 
say,  without  seriously  vitiating  our  results,  we  may 
seek  to  discover  why  it  exists,  and  to  determine  the 
characteristics  of  its  poptdation  without  reference  to 
the  fact  that  it  constitutes  a  part  of  a  larger  political 
whole. 

When,  however,  we  come  to  consider  the  city  as  an 
organ  of  government,  we  are  liable  to  fall  into  serious 
error  if  we  do  not  examine  its  relations  to  the  political 
organization  of  the  state  within  which  it  may  lie.  We 
cannot  study  it  in  isolation.  For  the  city  as  a  social 
fact,  a  mere  urban  community,  is  not  exactly  the  same 
as  the  city  as  an  organ  of  government.  The  city  as 
a  mere  densely  populated  area  may  exist  where  there 
is  no  city  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  law.  Thus, 
for  a  long  time,  the  metropolitan  district  known  as 

^  Authorities :  Lavisse  et  Eambaud,  ' '  Histoire  generale, ' ' 
Chap.  VIII ;  Dareste  de  la  Chavanne,  ' '  Histoire  de  1  'Adminis- 
tration f rangaise, ' '  Chap,  vi ;  Gierke,  ' '  Das  deutsche  Genos- 
senschaf  tsrecht, ' '  Vol.  I,  passim ;  Vine,  ' '  English  Municipal 
Institutions;"  Wilcox,  "The  Study  of  City  Government." 

22  ' 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  GOVERNMENT 


London  was  in  large  part  governed  as  was  the  ad- 
jacent rural  population.  It  is  only,  indeed,  since  the 
passage  of  the  Local  Government  Acts  of  1888  and 
1899  that  there  has  been  a  metropolitan  London  from 
both  the  sociological  and  the  legal  points  of  view. 

Political  Position  of  Cities.  It  has  been  said  that  "The 
city  as  a  governmental  unit  may  occupy  one  of  three 
positions :  it  may  be  a  city  state ;  it  may  be  a  grade  of 
loe^l  government  established  by  the  state  in  the  con- 
stitution, or  it  may  be  simply  the  creature  or  agent  of 
the  general  government. ' '  ^  This  statement  may  be 
historically  true.  In  the  history  of  the  past  there 
have  certainly  been  instances  of  city  states.  It  is 
nevertheless  impossible  under  modern  conditions  that 
city  states  should  exist.  Indeed,  even  in  the  case  of 
those  cities  which  are  commonly  referred  to  as  city 
states,  the  city 's  statehood  consisted  largely  in  the  fact 
that  it  was  the  ruler  of  outlying  possessions.  This 
would  seem  to  be  a  necessary  characteristic  of  the  city 
state.  For  a  city  can  never  be  self-dependent  in  the 
same  way  in  which  any  other  area  can  be  self-depen- 
dent. It  is  obliged  to  rely  upon  other  districts  for  its 
food  supply.  It  cannot  rely,  with  any  degree  of  cer- 
tainty, upon  such  rural  districts  for  its  food  supply, 
unless  it  has  political  control  over  them  or  unless 
they  are  subject  to  the  state  of  which  the  city  is  a 
member. 

The  problems  connected  with  the  city  state  are 
therefore  problems  not  of  the  character  which  we  ordi- 
narily assign  to  municipal  problems,  but  are  rather 
» Wilcox,  ' '  The  Study  of  City  Government, ' '  p.  73. 

23 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


the  problems  of  governing  dependent  communities. 
They  are  really  more  in  the  nature  of  colonial  than 
municipal  problems.  We  may  for  this  reason  exclude 
the  city  state  from  our  consideration  and  may  say  that, 
so  far  as  concerns  the  city's  relations  to  the  state  in 
which  it  is  to  be  found,  the  city  may  be  either  a  grade 
of  local  government  or  simply  the  agent  of  the  general 
government  of  the  state  in  which  it  is  situated. 

When  we  say  that  a  city  may  be  a  grade  of  local 
government  we  mean  that  the  city  is  recognized  as 
possessing  an  inherent  sphere  of  action  with  which 
the  state  or  general  government  must  not  interfere. 
^\Tien  we  say  that  the  city  is  simply  the  creature  or 
agent  of  the  general  government  of  the  state  in  which 
it  is  situated,  we  mean  that  the  city  is  not  recognized 
as  possessing  any  inherent  powers,  but  that  all  its 
actions  are  regulated  by  the  state  government  which 
regards  everything  that  the  city  does  as  a  part  of  the 
general  administration  of  the  country. 

We  may  look  at  this  matter  from  two  points  of 
view :  namely,  that  of  power  and  that  of  usage.  The 
constitution  of  the  state  may  be  so  framed  that  no 
authority  of  the  state  government  may  be  recognized 
as  having  jurisdiction  over  certain  matters  within  the 
city.  We  are  not  to  infer,  however,  from  such  a 
statement  that  the  ultimate  sovereign  to  which  the 
city  is  subordinate  may  not,  when  it  sees  fit,  change 
the  constitution  and  cause  a  redistribution  of  powers. 
We  are  to  conclude  merely  that  so  long  as  the  constitu- 
tion exists,  no  authority  is  recognized  as  having  legal 
powers  with  regard  to  certain  matters,  but  the  munici- 
pal authorities.   This  is  a  position  in  which  cities  have 

24 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  GOVERNMENT 


seldom  been  placed.  Within,  however,  comparatively 
recent  years,  such  a  position  has  been  assigned  to 
cities  by  the  constitutions  of  several  of  the  states  of 
the  American  Union.  ^ 

City  Subordinated  to  the  State.  Ordinarily  the  posi- 
tion of  the  city  is,  from  the  legal  point  of  view,  one  of 
complete  subordination  to  the  state.  We  do  not  mean, 
where  such  is  the  case,  that  the  state  government  does 
not  recognize  any  powers  of  local  government  as  ex- 
isting in  the  city.  It  may  or  may  not.  Whether  it 
does  or  does  not  depends,  however,  in  this  case  not 
upon  any  constitutional  provision,  but  rather  upon 
the  usage  of  the  supreme  authority  in  the  state  gov- 
ernment. It  may,  indeed,  be  the  case  that  in  those 
states  where  the  relations  of  the  central  government 
of  the  state  with  the  cities  are  regulated  by  usage 
rather  than  by  constitutional  law,  the  cities  have  a 
wider  field  of  practically  unrestrained  action  than 
they  have  in  those  states  where  the  constitution  defi- 
nitely assigns  to  the  cities  a  sphere  of  action  in  which 
they  are  uncontrolled  by  any  authorities  of  the  state 
government. 

What  now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  is  the  position  which 
is  assigned  to  the  city  in  the  modern  state?  Is  it 
the  same  as  that  which  was  assigned  to  it  in  former 
days,  or  is  it  different?  If  it  is  different,  much  of 
the  value  of  conclusions  derived  from  a  consideration 
of  the  conditions  of  cities  in  the  past  is  destroyed. 
In  order  to  answer  the  question  which  has  just  been 
put  it  will  be  well  to  make  a  rapid  survey  of  the 
'■Infra,  p.  92. 

25 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


development  of  urban  life,  and  particularly  of  the  po- 
litical side  of  that  life. 

A  study  of  the  history  of  municipal  development 
reveals  the  fact  that  the  city  has  occupied  varying 
positions  in  relation  to  the  states  in  which  it  has  been 
geographically  situated.  It  has  had  at  times  even  a 
position  of  absolute  independence  and,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  city  states  of  antiquity,  has  been  the  governor 
of  subject  territory.  It  has,  on  the  other  hand,  been 
reduced  to  a  position  of  complete  subordination  to  the 
larger  state  in  which  it  was  situated,  which  did  not 
recognize  it  as  having  any  municipal  life  apart  from 
the  life  of  the  state  as  a  whole.  From  the  point  of 
view  of  sociology  the  city  has  always  existed  in  Eu- 
rope since  the  time  of  Greece  and  Rome.  From  the 
legal  point  of  view,  however,  the  city  seems  to  have 
absolutely  disappeared  during  the  middle  ages.  Ur- 
ban communities  of  course  were  in  existence,  but  they 
were  governed,  as  other  parts  of  the  country,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  general  administrative  system  of 
the  states  in  which  they  happened  to  lie. 

The  complete  subjection  of  cities  to  the  states  in 
which  they  were  situated,  and  the  refusal  on  the  part 
of  those  states  to  recognize  that  such  cities  had  any 
life  of  their  own,  could  not  permanently  continue. 
The  complete  subordination  of  urban  communities 
to  the  state  governments  of  the  middle  ages  naturally 
resulted  in  a  conflict.  This  conflict  was  waged  by  the 
cities  against  the  feudal  lords  and  the  royal  power 
throughout  western  Europe.  It  began  at  about  the 
time  that  these  feudal  lords  and  the  royal  power  had 
succeeded  in  incorporating  the  urban  communities  into 

26 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  GOVERNMENT 


the  general  administrative  system  which  was  adopted 
at  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  various  Teutonic 
kingdoms  in  the  Roman  Empire.  It  was  directed  to- 
ward securing  the  exercise  by  the  cities  of  powers 
which,  with  our  modern  ideas  of  political  science,  we 
regard  as  state  and  not  municipal  powers.  This 
struggle  was,  however,  not  so  much  a  struggle  between 
the  cities  as  such  and  the  state  as  such,  as  it  was  a 
struggle  upon  the  part  of  the  developing  industrial 
and  commercial  classes  in  the  society  of  the  times,  both 
for  the  freedom  to  pursue  their  vocations  and  for  par- 
ticipation in  the  government. 

Thus  the  power  to  hold  a  market — which  was  one 
of  the  points  upon  which  the  cities  put  the  greatest 
emphasis — was,  in  the  commercial  conditions  of  the 
middle  ages,  really  a  power  to  regulate  commercial  re- 
lations. Again,  the  power  to  regulate  customs  duties, 
which  was  claimed  both  by  the  cities  and  by  the  cen- 
tral government,  was  a  power  whose  exercise  very 
vitally  concerned  the  interests  of  the  commercial 
classes.  This  power  was  commonly  made  use  of  by  the 
crown,  not  for  the  purpose  of  regulating  these  rela- 
tions in  the  interest  of  the  commercial  classes,  but  for 
the  purpose  of  increasing  the  royal  revenue  without 
any  regard  for  those  classes.  So,  also,  the  power  to 
hold  their  own  courts,  for  whose  possession  the  cities 
struggled  so  arduously,  was  a  power  whose  exercise 
by  the  cities  was  absolutely  necessary  to  the  welfare 
of  the  commercial  and  industrial  classes.  The  courts, 
in  the  first  place,  were  made  use  of  by  the  feudal 
lords  and  by  the  crown  as  a  means  of  obtaining  reve- 
nue just  as  much  as  they  were  used  as  a  means  of 

27 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


administering  justice.  Furthermore,  the  fact  that 
commei-eial  and  indi;strial  relations  were  predominant 
in  urban  communities  made  it  necessary,  under  a  pop- 
ular system  of  administering:  justice,  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  these  communities  should  be  excluded  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  courts  controlled  by  a  rural  popu- 
lation whose  interests  were  almost  exclusively  agri- 
cultural in  character.  Finally,  the  military  powers 
which  the  cities  so  commonly  claimed  during  the  early 
part  of  the  middle  ages  were  powers  whose  exercise 
by  the  municipal  population  was  absolutely  necessary 
for  the  proper  protection  of  the  industrial  and  com- 
mercial interests  at  a  time  when  the  law  was  practi- 
cally the  will  of  the  strong. 

So  we  might  go  on.  Almost  every  power  for  whose 
possession  and  exercise  the  cities  struggled,  during  the 
period  we  are  discussing,  was  a  power  which  has  now 
come  to  be  recognized  as  properly  pertaining  to  the 
government  of  the  state  as  a  whole.  Its  exercise  by 
the  cities  was,  however,  in  the  conditions  at  that  time 
existing,  necessary  if  the  commercial  and  industrial 
interests  were  to  obtain  that  recognition  which  was 
absolutely  essential  to  their  continued  life  and  future 
development. 

In  a  large  number  of  instances,  particularly  in 
Italy  and  Germany,  the  cities  were  the  victors  in  the 
struggle  and  attained  to  the  position  of  independent 
political  communities.  In  a  number  of  other  in- 
stances the  cities,  while  not  becoming  politically  inde- 
pendent, still  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  right  to  ex- 
ercise many  powers  which  we  now  regard  as  powers 
of  state  government.    AMien,  however,  the  policy  of 

28 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  OP  GOVERNMENT 


tlie  governing  classes  of  the  various  European  states 
had  become  so  modified  as  to  accord  to  the  commer- 
cial and  industrial  classes  that  recognition  necessary 
for  their  prosperity,*  we  find  that  the  cities  appear  to 
decline  in  importance  from  the  political  point  of  view, 
and  cease  to  contest  the  exercise  of  these  govern- 
mental powers  with  the  state  government.  This  de- 
cline of  the  cities  in  political  importance  seems  to 
have  been  inevitable.  The  demands  made  by  the  cities 
were  absolutely  incompatible  with  the  development 
of  the  national  state.  The  cities,  if  the  national  state 
was  to  develop,  had  to  give  up  the  exercise  of  powers 
whose  exercise  properlj'^  devolved  upon  the  state,  and 
were  obliged  to  content  themselves  with  a  position  of 
subordination  in  that  state. 

The  process  of  subordinating  the  cities  to  the  state 
government  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  was  finished  by 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  This  was  true  both 
in  Germany  and  in  Finance,  and  was  practically  true 
in  England.- 

'  Thus  in  France  the  abolition  of  the  duel  and  ordeal  as 
modes  of  legal  proof,  which  was  secured  by  most  of  the  cities, 
for  the  procedure  before  their  own  courts,  as  a  privilege,  be- 
came general  throughout  the  kingdom. 

-  The  subordination  in  England  is  not,  however,  so  apparent, 
because  cities  had  never  attained  in  England  the  same  degree 
of  independence  as  on  the  Continent,  and  because  the  general 
administrative  system  of  England  was  much  less  centralized 
than  on  the  Continent.  Thus  we  find  in  England  that  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice  and  the  preservation  of  the  peace  were 
regarded  as  functions  of  the  state  government.  Their  dis- 
charge, however,  was  delegated  to  municipal  officers.  Officers 

29 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


The  municipal  development  of  the  sixteenth,  seven- 
teenth, and  eighteenth  centuries  was  thus  directed  to- 
ward securing  a  general  recognition  of  the  fact  that 
the  city  was  a  subordinate  member  of  the  greater  state 
in  which  it  was  situated,  and  had,  from  the  legal  point 
of  view,  no  inherent  right  of  government  of  which  it 
might  not  be  deprived  by  the  state  in  the  interest  of 
the  welfare  of  the  state.  But,  wherever  ideas  of  ad- 
ministrative decentralization  prevailed,  it  was  recog- 
nized that  while  the  state  was  theoretically  sovereign, 
it  might  properly  delegate  to  the  cities  as  its  subordi- 
nate agents,  the  discharge  of  many  of  the  functions  of 
government  which,  from  the  point  of  view  of  theory, 
were. recognized  as  belonging  to  the  state. 

The  independence  which  the  cities  had  secured  dur- 
ing the  middle  ages  as  a  means  of  securing  the  recog- 
nition of  the  importance  of  the  industrial  and  com- 

who  were  otherwise  engaged  in  the  discharge  of  the  corporate 
business  of  the  municipal  boroughs  were  by  royal  commission 
vested  with  judicial  and  police  powers;  were,  indeed,  made 
justices  of  the  peace  with  minor  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction. 
The  mere  fact,  therefore,  that,  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  borough  offi- 
cers in  England  discharged  judicial  and  police  functions  is  not 
at  all  evidence  of  the  belief  that  these  functions  were  local 
and  not  central  in  character. 

In  other  states,  as  for  example,  in  Prussia  and  in  France, 
both  the  legal  theory  and  the  practical  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment recognized  cities  as  possessing  no  inherent  rights.  Cities 
were  neither  recognized  as  possessing  any  theoretical  sov- 
ereignty, nor,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  intrusted  with  the  inde- 
pendent discharge  of  any  functions  of  the  government.  Where 
they  possessed  any  powers  at  all,  the  exercise  of  those  powers 
was  subject  to  the  supervision  and  control  of  the  crown. 

30 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  GOVERNMENT 


iiiercial  classes  was  taken  from  them  in  the  interest 
of  the  welfare  of  the  national  state.  It  was  taken  from 
them  properly  inasmuch  as  the  cities  had  secured  the 
modifications  in  the  legal  system  and  the  political  or- 
ganization which  were  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  the 
commercial  and  industrial  classes. 

We  may,  however,  go  a  step  further.  We  may  say 
that  the  independence  of  the  cities  was  taken  away 
from  them  not  only  in  the  interest  of  the  state  gov- 
ernment, but  also  in  their  own  interest.  One  of  the 
most  marked  features  of  municipal  development  is 
the  almost  universal  tendency  which  urban  communi- 
ties have  shown  toward  the  development  of  oligar- 
chical government;  toward  the  subjection  of  the  vast 
majority  of  the  urban  population  to  the  control  of 
the  more  important  and  powerful  economic  classes  in 
the  municipal  society.  Most  cities  of  ancient  and 
medieval  times  fell  under  the  control  of  a  council 
whose  membership  was  filled  by  cooptation  or  by 
election  from  a  narrow  body  of  the  most  important 
citizens.  In  most  cities  these  councils  used  their  pow- 
ers in  the  interest  of  the  class  they  represented,  and 
often  to  oppress  the  vast  mass  of  the  population.  It 
may,  of  course,  be  said  that  this  tendency  toward  oli- 
garchical government  was  in  many,  if  not  in  most 
cases,  aggravated  by  the  attitude  which  the  central 
government  of  the  state  assumed  toward  the  cities.^ 

'  A  study  of  English  municipal  development  will  show  at 
once  how  first  the  crown,  and  later  the  nobility  and  gentry, 
made  use  of  the  cities  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  parlia- 
ment, and  how  almost  every  influence  in  the  state  was  brought 
to  bear  to  force  the  municipal  population  under  the  control  of 

31 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


But,  admitting  that  the  behavior  of  the  state  govern- 
ment toward  the  cities  aggravated  any  tendency  they 
may  have  had  toward  oligarchical  government,  it  can- 
not be  gainsaid  that  the  cities,  without  such  action  on 
the  part  of  the  central  government,  were  of  their  own 
accord  falling  into  the  oligarchical  regime.^ 

Whether  the  municipal  population  would  have  been 
able  to  cast  off  the  yoke  of  the  oligarchy  if  the  state 
government  had  not  interfered,  of  course,  cannot  be 
said.  It  is,  at  any  rate,  true  that  by  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  whether  owing  to  an  inherent  and 
incurable  political  incapacity,  or  whether  owing  to  an 
inherent  tendency  toward  oligarchical  government, 
aggravated  by  central  interference,  the  government  of 
the  cities  of  the  European  world  was  in  the  hands  of 
municipal  oligarchies. 

The  apparent  inability  of  the  municipal  population 
to  work  out  their  own  salvation  brought  it  about,  then, 
that  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
marked  by  a  most  drastic  interference  upon  the  part 
of  the  central  state  governments  of  Prussia,  France, 
and  England  in  the  internal  organization  of  cities. 
Beginning  with  France  in  the  year  1800,  continuing 
in  Prussia  in  the  year  1808,  and  ending  in  England 
with  the  year  1835,  important  municipal  corporations 
acts  were  passed  which  laid  the  basis  for  the  muniei- 

a  few  persons,  who  might  thus  more  easily  be  controlled  by  the 
predominant  political  forces  which  were  seeking  the  control 
of  the  House  of  Commons. 

'  In  England  thus  again  the  oligarchical  form  of  govern- 
ment had  developed  before  the  attempt  had  been  made  by 
the  crown  to  get  control  of  the  cities. 

32 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  GOVERNMENT 


pal  organization  of  the  present  day.  These  acts  were, 
it  is  true,  considerably  modified  during  the  course  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  but  the  city  which  they  in- 
augurated still  exists.  This  movement  may  be  char- 
acterized by  the  statement  that  the  power  of  deter- 
mining the  organization  of  the  city  government  was 
definitely  taken  away  from  the  municipal  population 
and  assumed  by  the  central  government.  This  power 
had,  from  almost  time  immemorial,  been  exercised  by 
the  cities  themselves,  and  its  exercise  had  resulted  in 
the  development  in  the  cities  of  oligarchical  govern- 
ment.^ 

Municipal  Home  Rule.  Notwithstanding  the  tremen- 
dous encroachments  by  the  state  governments,  upon 

^  A  somewhat  similar  movement  has  taken  place  in  the 
United  States.  The  very  general  abandonment  of  special 
charters,  the  substitution  therefor  of  general  municipal  cor- 
porations acts  and  the  interference  of  the  legislature  in  the 
organization  of  cities,  where  special  charters  are  still  granted, 
have  had  for  their  result  the  assumption  by  the  state  govern- 
ment of  the  power  to  organize  the  city  government.  It  is  true, 
of  course,  that  theoretically  special  charters  are  framed  and 
passed  by  state  legislatures.  But,  as  a  general  thing,  the  char- 
ters which  are  thus  passed  by  the  legislature  have  been  drawn 
up  in  the  first  place  by  city  officers  or  city  conventions  or  com- 
missions, and  are  passed  by  the  legislature  at  the  instance  of 
such  authorities.  The  only  exceptions  to  this  movement  in  the 
United  States  are  to  be  found  in  those  states  which,  like  Mis- 
souri and  California,  give  the  cities  the  right  to  frame  their 
own  charters.  But  these  exceptions  are  more  apparent  than 
real.  For  the  constitution  which  gives  the  cities  this  right 
generally  prescribes  in  considerable  detail  the  form  of  city 
government  which  may  be  incorporated  in  the  charter  to  be 
adopted. 

3  33 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


what  had  been  recognized  to  be  the  rights  of  the  cities, 
by  which  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  was 
accompanied,  the  nineteenth  century  as  a  whole  may 
be  regarded  as  characterized  by  the  growth  of  the  idea 
of  municipal  home  rule.  INIunicipal  home  rule,  how- 
ever, as  it  was  xmderstood  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
was  something  quite  different  from  what  it  was  dur- 
ing the  middle  ages.  The  solution  of  the  great  prob- 
lems which  had  been  fought  out  between  the  cities  and 
the  state  during  the  seventeenth  and  the  eighteenth 
centuries  was  left  unchanged. 

The  municipal  home  rule  which  the  cities  obtained 
throughout  Europe  during  the  course  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  does  not  consist  in  the  exercise  by 
them  of  any  of  the  powers  which,  as  a  result  of  the 
struggles  of  the  earlier  centuries,  had  been  recognized 
as  properly  belonging  to  the  state.  The  municipal 
home  rule  of  the  nineteenth  century  consists  in  the 
possession  by  the  city  of  the  right  to  regulate  those 
matters  of  administration  which  must  be  regulated 
locally  in  order  to  be  regulated  successfully, — matters 
which  are  really  of  little  interest  to  the  state  as  a 
whole  but  which  are  of  supreme  importance  to  the 
municipality.  These  matters  may  be  compendiously 
described  as  local  improvements. 

While  the  legislation  of  the  nineteenth  century 
thus  recognized  that  municipalities  should  possess 
large  freedom  of  action  in  undertaking  local  im- 
provements, it  did  not  recognize  that  even  here  the 
municipalities  should  have  free  hand  where  the  in- 
terests of  the  municipality  come  into  conflict  with  the 
interests  of  the  state  government.    The  point  of  con- 

34 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  GOVERNMENT 


tact  of  these  two  somewhat  conflicting'  interests  is 
mainly  in  the  domain  of  local  finance.  The  under- 
taking of  local  improvements  necessitates  large  finan- 
cial operations.  These  operations  may  be  so  conducted 
by  the  municipality,  through  the  exercise  of  the  tax- 
ing and  borrowing  powers,  as  seriously  to  derange  the 
financial  system  of  the  state  as  a  whole.  So  far  as 
this  is  the  case,  the  legislation  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury was  careful  to  secure  to  the  central  government  of 
the  state  a  control  over  the  actions  of  the  municipality. 

The  eighteenth  century,  then,  was  marked  by  the 
adoption  of  the  theory  that  the  city  was  an  agent  of 
the  state  government  for  the  discharge  of  those  func- 
tions interesting  the  state  government  which  de- 
manded local  treatment,  and  as  such  should  be  subject 
to  state  control.  The  nineteenth  century  was  marked 
by  the  recognition  of  the  city  as  an  organization  for 
the  satisfaction  of  local  needs,  and  by  the  grant  to 
it,  when  acting  in  this  capacity,  of  large  freedom  of 
action. 

Too  much  emphasis  should  not,  however,  be  laid 
upon  this  sphere  of  municipal  home  rule  as  it  is  some- 
times termed.  For,  if  we  bear  in  mind  the  history  of 
the  city,  we  cannot  help  feeling  that  what  we  now 
regard  as  distinctly  local  work  may,  with  the  develop- 
ment of  new  social  conditions,  become  of  such  vital 
interest  to  the  state  as  a  whole  that  it  may  either  de- 
termine to  exercise  a  control  over  the  actions  of  the 
city  in  attending  to  it,  or  may  take  the  matter  alto- 
gether out  of  the  hands  of  the  city  and  attend  to  it 
itself.  Thus,  for  example,  the  urban  communities  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  state  of  Massachusetts  have 

35 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


grown  so  rapidly  within  the  last  twenty-five  years, 
and  the  competition  between  them  for  the  purchase  of 
sources  of  water-supply  has  become  so  keen  that  it  has 
been  necessary  for  the  state  of  Massachusetts  to  step 
in  and  regulate  and  largely  administer  the  whole  mat- 
ter of  water-supply  itself.  Up  to  within  very  recent 
times  there  has  been  hardly  any  question  that  the 
water-supply  was  a  distinctly  local  function. 

Municipal  Functions.  The  whole  matter  of  municipal 
functions  therefore  is  in  a  state  of  flux.  What  may 
be  a  mun>ieipal  function  at  one  time  in  a  given  state 
may  not  be  at  another.  Again,  what  may  at  a  given 
time  be  a  municipal  function  in  one  state  may  not 
be  in  another  state.  In  both  cases  the  reason  why  it 
may  or  may  not  be  recognized  as  municipal  is  that 
it  is,  or  is  not,  under  existing  economic  and  social  con- 
nections, of  distinctly  local  interest.  At  the  same 
time  it  will  probably  be  long  before  everything  that 
the  city  will  do  will  become  of  general  interest.  For 
many  years  to  come  there  will  probably  be  many 
things  which  cities  may  and  will  do,  which  interest 
them  so  exclusively  that  they  may  be  regarded  in  at- 
tending to  them  as  organs  for  the  satisfaction  of  local 
needs.  But  we  shall  probably  see  in  the  future,  as 
we  have  seen  in  the  past,  a  continual  encroachment  by 
the  state  on  what  has  been  recognized  as  the  domain 
of  the  city,  due  to  the  fact  that  what  the  city  is  doing 
has  become  of  interest  to  the  state  as  a  whole. 

The  sphere  of  municipal  activity,  upon  which  the 
state  does  not  at  any  given  time  encroach,  will  proba- 

36 


4 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  GOVERNMENT 


bly  be  found  largely  in  that  branch  of  administration 
known  as  internal  affairs.  From  the  nature  of  the 
case  the  city  can  have  nothing  to  do  in  the  domain  of 
foreign  relations  or  of  military  affairs.  It  is  true 
that  the  ancient  and  medieval  cities  had  important 
duties  to  perform  in  these  administrative  branches.* 
But  this  was  because  they  were  more  or  less  in  the 
position  of  city  states.^ 

What  has  been  said  Avith  regard  to  military  affairs 
may  with  some  modifications  be  repeated  with  regard 
to  judicial  affairs.  In  practically  all  modern  states 
the  administration  of  justice  has  come  to  be  regarded 
as  a  function  of  the  state  and  not  of  the  municipal 
government.  It  is  of  course  true  that,  just  as  in  the 
administration  of  military  affairs,  cities  may  be  called 

'See  Wilcox,  "The  Study  of  City  Government,"  pp.  76  and 
25,  citing  Ashley,  ' '  Economic  History, ' '  Part  11,  p.  94. 

'  It  is  of  course  true  that  even  now  in  the  states  of  the 
United  States  in  which  there  exists  a  citizen  soldiery,  cities  or 
their  officers  may  have  assigned  to  them  by  the  state  the 
establishment,  maintenance,  and  care  of  armories.  But  the 
soldiers  who  use  these  armories  are  under  the  command  of 
officers  who  receive  their  commissions  from  the  state  and  not 
the  city  government,  and  are  regarded  by  the  military  law 
as  soldiers  of  the  state  and  not  of  the  city.  The  duty  of 
maintaining  armories  is  in  these  cases  imposed  upon  the  city 
and  not  upon  the  state,  not  because  military  affairs  are  re- 
garded as  a  municipal  function,  but  because  this  is  a  con- 
venient way  of  paying  this  part  of  the  expenses  of  the  state 
government.  The  state  has,  under  the  system  of  adminis- 
tration prevailing  in  the  states  of  the  United  States,  no  oflS- 
cers  in  the  localities  upon  whom  these  duties  may  be  imposed, 
and  merely  makes  use  of  the  city  as  its  agent  for  this  purpose. 

37 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


upon  to  discharge  certain  functions,  so  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  the  cities  may  be  called  upon  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  the  judicial  administration,  and  judi- 
cial officers  may  be  given  a  territorial  jurisdiction  co- 
incident with  the  boundaries  of  the  city.  But  in  such 
cases  the  city  is  usually  regarded  as  discharging  these 
functions  as  an  agent  of  the  state  government. 

The  city  may  in  like  manner  be  treated  as  an  agent 
of  the  state  in  the  branch  of  administration  which  has 
been  called  financial  affairs.  It  may  be  the  agent  of 
the  state  for  the  payment  of  expenses  which  are  really 
expenses  of  the  state  government ;  it  may  be  the  agent 
of  the  state  also  for  the  collection  of  the  state  revenues, 
as  is  the  case  with  many  of  the  cities  in  the  United 
States.  But  in  addition  to  being  the  financial  agent 
of  the  state  it  may  be  intrusted  with  the  exercise  of 
financial  powers  in  its  own  behalf.  A  grant  to  the 
city  of  financial  powers  would  seem  to  be  almost  ne- 
cessary if  the  city  is  to  be  permitted  to  live  a  life 
separate  and  apart  from  that  of  the  state.  The  city, 
therefore,  in  the  domain  of  financial  affairs,  may  be 
regarded  both  as  an  agent  of  the  state  government, 
and  as  an  organization  for  the  satisfaction  of  local 
needs. 

It  will  be  seen  then  that,  with  practically  this  single 

exception  of  the  finances,  the  city  as  an  organ  for  the 
satisfaction  of  local  needs  is  confined  in  its  action  to 
the  branch  of  administration  which  is  spoken  of  as 
the  administration  of  internal  affairs.  Even  here,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  judicial  and  financial  administration, 
the  city  may  not  always  be  given  an  absolutely  free 
hand.    It  may  not  be  regarded  as  in  all  cases  an  or- 

38 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  GOVERNMENT 


ganization  for  the  satisfaction  of  merely  local  needs, 
but  must  be  treated  as  an  agent  of  the  state  govern- 
ment. For  example,  it  may  be  made  an  authority  in 
the  sanitary  administration,  but  in  so  far  as  it  dis- 
charges sanitary  functions  it  must  be  regarded  as  act- 
ing as  an  agent  of  the  state  government.  Unsanitary 
conditions  existing  in  the  city  have  a  bad  effect  on 
the  health  of  the  state  as  a  whole,  since  many  diseases 
are  contagious.  What  is  true  of  sanitary  powers  is 
also  true  of  powers  relative  to  schools.  Ignorance  on 
the  part  of  a  municipal  population  may  have  an  effect 
upon  the  people  of  a  state  as  a  whole,  since  it  may 
affect  the  intellectual  capacity  of  the  members  of  the 
municipal  population  who  are,  at  the  same  time  that 
they  are  municipal  voters,  voters  at  state  elections. 

Present  Position  of  Cities.  We  may  say,  therefore,  that 
the  city  at  the  present  time  is  recognized,  first,  as  an 
agent  of  the  state  government ;  second,  as  an  organiza- 
tion for  the  satisfaction  of  local  needs,  but  that  it  can 
be  regarded  as  merely  an  organization  for  the  satis- 
faction of  local  needs  only  for  a  very  narrow  class  of 
functions  which  are  to  be  found  almost  exclusively  in 
that  branch  of  administration  which  is  known  as  in- 
ternal affairs.  Further  it  may  be  said  that  while  the 
city  as  an  organ  for  the  satisfaction  of  local  needs 
should  be  accorded  a  large  freedom  of  action,  the 
whole  matter  of  the  sphere  of  its  action  as  a  local  cor- 
poration is  not  permanently  fixed,  and  that  the  state 
may  at  any  time  make  a  city  an  agent  of  the  state 
government,  and  may  subject  it  as  such  agent  to  a  cen- 
tral control. 

39 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


So  far  the  only  question  which  has  been  discussed 
has  been,  what  is  and  what  is  not  a  municipal  func- 
tion? That  is,  when  is  a  city  an  agent  of  the  state 
government,  and  when  is  it  merely  an  organization 
for  the  satisfaction  of  local  needs?  We  have  still  to 
consider  the  question  how— that  is,  by  what  process 
and  in  what  manner — it  shall  be  determined  what  is 
and  what  is  not  a  municipal  function. 

The  sovereignty  of  the  state  is  now  so  universally 
recognized  that  there  is  no  question  as  to  what  author- 
ity shall  make  the  determination.  It  is  the  state  and 
not  the  city  which  in  our  modern  law  is  vested  with 
this  power.  It  is  further  usually  an  organ  of  the 
state  government,  as  distinguished  from  the  state  as 
sovereign,  which  exercises  this  power.  If  the  state 
constitution  does  not  vest  the  city  with  certain  powers, 
it  is  the  legislature,  aided  by  the  courts,  which  deter- 
mines in  the  concrete  case  what  the  city  shall  do  and 
how  it  shall  do  it.  If  the  state  constitution  does,  as 
it  has  done  in  some  of  the  American  states,  assign  a 
sphere  of  action  to  the  cities,  it  still  assigns  such 
sphere  of  action  usually  in  such  general  terms  that  it 
is  again  the  legislature,  but  in  this  case  with  the  ap- 
proval, as  well  as  the  aid  of  the  courts,  which  makes 
the  determination.  In  neither  case  may  the  city  take 
possession  of  any  branch  of  work  and  exclude  the 
action  of  the  state  in  that  branch. 

But  in  what  manner  shall  the  state  authorities  act 
in  the  determination  of  the  sphere  of  municipal 
action  ?  Two  general  methods  have  been  adopted : 
One,  that  adopted  by  England  and  the  United  States, 
starts  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  state,  and  lays 

40 


THE  CITY  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  GOVERNMENT 


down  the  rule  that  the  city  may  not  act  except  where 
it  has  been  authorized  expressly  and  specifically  by  the 
state.  This  view  of  the  city's  position  has  led  to  the 
practice  of  enumerating  in  detail  its  powers,  particu- 
larly its  financial  powers,  and  to  the  adoption  by  the 
courts  of  the  rule  of  strict  construction  of  all  grants 
of  power  to  cities.  The  adoption  of  such  a  method  of 
determining  municipal  competency  is  due  to  the  fail- 
ure to  conceive  of  the  city  as  living  a  life  of  its  own, 
separate  and  apart  from  that  of  the  state  as  a  whole. 
Such  a  conception  is  in  its  turn  due  to  ideas  of  ex- 
treme centralization,  centralization  at  any  rate  from 
the  legislative  point  of  view ;  to  the  desire  to  prevent 
state  disintegration.  This  desire  has  been  a  character- 
istic of  English  policy  since  the  days  of  William  the 
Conqueror  and  his  successors,  who  were  the  only 
kings  in  Europe  able  to  withstand  the  tendency  to- 
ward feudalism  with  its  ideas  of  local  autonomy,  so 
characteristic  of  the  times  in  which  they  lived. 

The  other  method  of  determining  the  competence 
of  the  city  is  the  one  adopted  generally  on  the  Con- 
tinent. It  starts  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  city, 
and  adopts  the  principle  that  the  presumption  is  al- 
ways in  favor  of  the  city,  which  has  the  power  to  do 
anything  which  it  has  not  been  forbidden  to  do,  or 
which  has  not  been  intrusted  to  some  governmental 
authority  other  than  the  municipality.  This  theory 
of  the  position  of  the  city  is  based  upon  the  concep- 
tion that  the  city  has  a  life  separate  and  apart  from 
that  of  the  state  as  a  whole.  This  conception  is  in 
its  turn  due  probably  to  the  long-continued  absence 
on  the  Continent  of  any  such  thing  as  centralized  leg- 

41 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


islation,  and  to  the  belief  in  local  autonomy  resulting 
from  the  greater  influence  on  the  Continent  of  feudal 
ideas. 

Whatever  the  effect  of  these  theories  may  be  upon 
the  authority  of  the  state,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to 
which  is  the  better  from  the  point  of  view  of  munici- 
pal development.  A  city  which  does  not  have  to  look 
to  a  central  state  authority  for  every  grant  of  power, 
and  whose  powers  are  not  subject  to  the  rule  of  strict 
construction,  is  much  more  favorably  situated  for  ren- 
dering service  to  its  own  inhabitants  than  is  a  city 
whose  powers  are  apportioned  to  it  by  the  Anglo- 
American  rule. 

It  may  also  be  said  that  the  effect  of  this  more  liberal 
method  of  determining  municipal  powers  on  the  au- 
thority of  the  state  is  not  seriously  bad  in  these  days 
when  the  questions  whose  decision  affect  the  power 
of  the  state  are  so  universally  answered  in  its  favor. 
Under  the  continental  method,  municipal  development 
may  therefore  be  greatly  favored  with  due  regard  to 
the  interests  of  the  state  as  a  whole. 


42 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  DKVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CITY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  ^ 

English  City  Government  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 

In  order  to  understand  the  beginnings  of  city  govern- 
ment in  the  United  States  it  is  necessary  to  consider 
briefly  the  system  existing  in  England  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  For  that  was  the  model  on  which  the 
American  sj^stem  was  framed.  The  English  system  of 
city  government  existing  at  the  time  this  country  was 
settled  was  based  on  certain  rather  well-defined  prin- 
ciples. In  the  first  place,  the  cities,  or  boroughs,  as 
they  were  commonly  called,  were  incorporated  through 
a  grant  by  the  crown  to  each  locality  of  its  own  special 
charter.  There  was,  therefore,  no  uniform  system  of 
city  government  in  England,  except  in  so  far  as  all 
the  special  charters  were  governed  by  certain  genei'- 
ally  applied  principles. 

In  the  second  place,  what  was  incorporated  by  the 
English  charter  was  not  the  district,  nor  the  people 
living  in  the  district,  but  only  the  municipal  officers, 
or  these  officers  and  a  narrow  body  of  freemen  or 

'Authorities:  Fairlie,  "Municipal  Development  in  the 
United  States  "  in  "A  Municipal  Program ;  "  " Municipal 
Administration, ' '  Chap,  v ;  Allinson  and  Penrose,  ' '  Philadel- 
phia;" Durand,  "The  rinances  of  New  York  City." 

43 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


voters.  The  official  name  of  an  English  municipal 
corporation  was  indicative  of  this  condition  of  things, 
being,  for  example,  "The  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and 

Councillors  of  ,"  or  "The  Mayor  and  Jurats  of 

 ,"  or  "The  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Commonalty 

of  ." 

In  the  third  place,  and  partly  as  a  result  of  the 
character  of  the  incorporation  just  described,  the  form 
of  government  provided  by  these  charters  was  dis- 
tinctly oligarchical  in  character.  In  most  instances 
the  council,  which  was  the  governing  body  of  the  cor- 
poration, was  a  self-perpetuating  body,  although  in 
some  cases  its  members  were  elected  by  the  narrow 
body  of  freemen  or  voters  already  alluded  to. 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  sphere  of  action  of  the 
English  municipal  corporation  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury was  a  very  narrow  one.  The  corporation  had 
control  of  its  property  and  finances,  and  had  the 
power  to  pass  local  ordinances,  mainly  of  a  police 
character.  Its  officers,  or  certain  of  its  officers,  were 
further  frequently  intrusted  by  royal  commission 
with  important  duties  relative  to  the  administration 
of  civil  and  criminal  justice,  and  the  preservation  of 
the  peace. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  population  of  cities  had  greatly  increased.  This 
increase  of  the  population  made  necessary  an  enlarge- 
ment of  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity.  The  cor- 
porate organization  of  the  cities  was,  however,  bad. 
It  Avas  bad  because  the  cities  were  prostituted  in  the 
interest  of  the  national  political  parties.^  Under  these 
conditions  the  city  government  could  not  with  safety 
'  Supra,  p.  31. 

44 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


be  intrusted  with  the  discharge  of  the  new  functions 
of  government.  The  result  was  the  formation,  by 
special  acts  of  Parliament,  of  trusts  or  commissions, 
not  connected  with  the  borough  council,  for  the  dis- 
charge of  these  new  functions,  such  as  paving,  light- 
ing, and  even  watching  the  streets. 

Such  was  the  system  of  city  government  existing 
in  England  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  whatever  may 
have  been  the  depths  to  which  any  American  city  has 
fallen,  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  ever  sank  so  low  as 
were  English  boroughs  at  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.^ 

Early  American  City  Government.  But,  with  all  its 
faults,  the  English  system  was  made  the  model  of  the 
system  which  was  established  in  the  North  American 
colonies.^ 

'As  Mr.  Vine  says,  "English  Municipal  Institutions;  Their 
Growth  and  Development  from  1835  to  1879,"  p.  10:  "The 
municipal  corporations  were  for  the  most  part  in  the  hands 
of  narrow  and  self-elected  cliques,  who  administered  local 
affairs  for  their  own  advantage  rather  than  for  that  of  the 
boroughs.  .  .  .  The  inhabitants  were  practically  deprived  of 
all  power  of  local  self-government,  and  were  ruled  by  those 
whom  they  had  not  chosen,  and  in  whom  they  had  no  confi- 
dence. .  .  .  The  corporate  funds  were  wasted.  .  .  .  The  interests 
and  the  improvements  of  towns  were  not  eared  for.  .  .  .  The 
local  boards  were  too  often  corrupted  by  party  influence  and 
failed  to  render  impartial  justice,  and  .  .  .  municipal  institu- 
tions, instead  of  strengthening  and  supporting  the  political 
framework  of  the  country,  were  a  source  of  weakness  and  a 
fertile  cause  of  discontent. ' ' 

'  For  the  history  of  the  colonial  period,  see  Fairlie,  ' '  Munici- 
pal Corporations  in  the  Colonies  "  in  "  Municipal  Affairs, ' ' 
Vol.  II,  p.  370. 

45 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


The  first  municipal  corporation  of  any  importance 
to  be  established  in  this  country  was  that  of  New 
York.  New  York  received  its  first  charter  in  1665. 
This  charter  was  unsatisfactory,  and  in  1683  a  peti- 
tion was  made  to  Governor  Dongan  to  give  the  city  a 
more  satisfactory  frame  of  municipal  government. 
Governor  Dongan,  in  1686,  issued  to  the  city  of  New 
York  a  charter  which  has  been  since  that  time  the 
basis  of  its  municipal  government.  It  has,  of  course, 
been  subjected  to  frequent  amendment,  but  the  his- 
tory of  New  York,  as  a  municipality,  may  be  said  to 
date  from  the  time  of  its  issue.  In  1708  another  char- 
ter, known  as  the  Cornbury  charter,  was  issued  to  the 
city,  and  in  1730  the  most  important  provisions  of  the 
Dongan  and  Cornbury  charters  were  incorporated 
into  a  new  charter,  known  as  the  Montgomerie  charter, 
which  was  issued  to  the  city  by  Governor  Montgom- 
erie. 

Soon  after  the  issue  of  the  charter  of  1686  to  the 
city  of  New  York,  the  city  of  Philadelphia  received 
a  charter,  namely,  in  1701,  from  which  year  may  be 
said  to  date  the  history  of  Philadelphia  as  a  city. 
During  the  eighteenth  century  other  charters  were  is- 
sued to  various  municipal  corporations  by  the  gov- 
ernors of  the  North  American  colonies.  The  munici- 
pal corporations  which  were  thus  established  were  in 
the  main  confined  to  the  central  colonies  of  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia. 
We  find  almost  no  instances  of  the  formation  of  mu- 
nicipal corporations  in  New  England.^ 

^  The  probable  reasou  wliy  the  idea  of  incorporating  cities 
was  not  adopted  in  New  England  is  to  be  found  in  the  vitality 

46 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


By  1746  the  colonial  period  of  municipal  incorpora- 
tion seems  to  have  closed.  The  advantages  of  the 
system  were,  however,  apparent  just  as  soon  as  popu- 
lation began  to  gather  in  the  cities  after  the  Revolu- 
tionary War.  Beginning  with  the  existence  of  the 
states  as  independent  political  communities  there  ap- 
peared a  large  nvniiber  of  new  municipal  charters ; 
and  by  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
only  considerable  urban  community  in  the  United 
States  which  was  not  incorporated  was  Boston,  which, 
as  late  as  1820,  continued  to  govern  itself  through  the 
ordinary  New  England  town  organization. 

While  the  charters  that  were  issued  after  the  Revo- 
lution were  very  similar  to  those  which  had  been 
issued  during  the  colonial  period,  there  was  this  es- 
sential ditference  between  them :  the  colonial  charters 
had  been  granted  by  the  governors  of  the  colonies ; 
the  municipal  charters  that  were  issued  after  the 
Revolution  were  granted  by  the  state  legislatures. 
This  diffei'ence  in  the  incorporating  authority  was 
destined  to  have  an  important  influence  on  the  posi- 
tion of  the  community  that  was  incorporated.  For  the 
charter  that  was  granted  by  the  governor  was,  like  the 
municipal  charter  which  was  granted  in  England  by 
the  crown,  regarded  as  something  in  the  nature  of  a 
contract  between  the  executive  part  of  the  colonial 
government  and  the  community  incorporated.  The 

of  the  New  England  town.  The  town  system  of  government 
really  gave  to  localities  all  the  freedom  of  government  that 
they  desired,  and  was  well  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  various 
districts  which,  until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
did  not  contain  any  very  large  population. 

47 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


municipal  charter,  on  that  account,  was  not  believed 
to  be  capable  of  amendment  except  as  the  result  of  an 
agreement  between  both  parties  to  the  contract.  When, 
however,  a  charter  was  granted  by  the  legislature,  it 
was  regarded  not  so  much  as  in  the  nature  of  a  eon- 
tract,  but  as  an  ordinary  act  of  legislation  which, 
like  all  acts  of  legislation,  was  capable  of  amendment 
by  the  action  of  the  legislature  alone. 

The  municipal  corporations  which  were  established 
in  this  country  during  the  colonial  period  departed 
in  one  respect  from  the  English  model.  In  very  few 
instances  was  the  council  a  self-perpetuating  body. 
Indeed,  Philadelphia  may  be  said  to  have  been  the 
only  important  city  in  which  the  council  was  renewed 
by  cooptation.  As  a  general  thing  the  people  of  the 
city  were  permitted  by  the  colonial  municipal  charters 
to  participate  in  the  choice  of  local  officers.  The  prob- 
able reason  why  the  more  liberal  form  of  municipal 
charter  was  adopted  in  this  country,  although  it  was 
discouraged  in  England,  was  that  neither  the  cro-^Ti 
nor  the  political  parties  had  any  direct  interest  in 
securing  the  adoption  of  a  narrow  form  of  charter 
for  the  colonial  corporations.  For  the  American 
municipal  corporation  differed  from  the  English  cor- 
poration in  that  it  had  no  representation  in  Parlia- 
ment and  could  not,  therefore,  be  made  use  of  to 
secure  a  party  majority  in  that  body.  T\Tiile  the 
people  were  generally  permitted  to  participate  in  the 
selection  of  municipal  officers,  no  such  principle  as 
universal  manhood  suffrage  was  adopted.  The  power 
to  vote  for  municipal  officers  was,  as  a  general  thing, 
confined  to  the  well-to-do  classes.   The  usual  rvile  was 

48 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


to  grant  it  to  the  freemen  of  the  city,  being  freehold- 
ers. Thus  in  the  Montgomerie  charter  of  New  York 
city  the  suffrage  was  granted  to  "the  freemen  of  the 
said  city,  being  inhabitants  and  the  freeholders  of 
each  respective  ward."  ^ 

The  municipal  organization  provided  by  most  of  the 
colonial  municipal  charters  followed  very  closely  the 
English  municipal  organization  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  governing  body  of  the  corporation  was 
a  council.  This  council,  like  the  English  council  of 
the  same  period,  consisted  of  a  mayor,  recorder,  and 
a  number  of  aldermen  and  councilmen,  or  assistants. 
The  mayor,  however,  seems,  even  in  the  earliest  char- 
ters, to  have  occupied  a  rather  more  important 
position  than  that  which  was  accorded  to  the  mayor 
by  the  English  charters.  In  the  first  place,  he  was 
quite  commonly  the  appointee  of  the  governor  of  the 

'  A  word  of  explanation  is  perhaps  necessary  with  regard 
to  the  freemen  of  the  city.  Almost  all  the  colonial  charters 
contained  provisions  for  bestowing  the  freedom  of  the  city 
upon  persons,  either  resident  or  non-resident.  The  advantages 
which  the  freemen  of  the  city  possessed  in  addition  to  that 
of  voting  was  that  they  alone  could  practice  any  "art,  trade, 
mystery,  or  manual  occupation,  or  merchandising  business ' ' 
within  the  borough,  except  during  the  great  fair.  In  some 
cases  this  monopoly  of  trade  was  a  privilege  of  considerable 
value.  For  example,  Albany  had  a  monopoly  of  trade  with  the 
Indians,  and  New  York  at  one  time  had  a  monopoly  of  bolting 
flour.  In  the  later  years  of  the  colonial  period,  however,  these 
advantages  ceased  to  be  of  any  particular  importance,  since 
trades  were  thrown  open  to  all;  and  at  the  present  time,  while 
the  freedom  of  the  city  is  sometimes  granted  to  distinguished 
visitors,  it  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  nothing  but  a  compli- 
ment. 

4  49 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


colony/  In  the  second  place,  he  seems  to  have  had 
rather  wider  police  powers  than  any  other  member  of 
the  council.  For  example,  in  New  York  and  Albany 
he  had  full  control  of  the  licensing  of  the  retail  sale 
of  liquors,  and  was  the  clerk  of  the  markets.  It  may 
well  be  that  the  greater  importance,  which  the  mayor 
secured,  as  a  result  both  of  the  peculiarity  of  his 
tenure  and  the  rather  wider  powers  that  he  possessed, 
was  the  cause  of  his  development  into  the  all-impor- 
tant mayor  of  the  present  day. 

While  the  council  thus  composed  was  the  only  gov- 
erning body  in  the  city,  certain  of  its  members, 
namely,  the  mayor,  recorder,  and  the  aldermen  were, 
after  the  English  model,  vested  with  important  judi- 
cial powers  not  granted  to  the  other  members  of  the 
council.  The  mayor,  recorder,  and  aldermen  indeed 
were,  by  the  charters  of  some  of  the  cities,  of  which 
New  York  is  an  example,  vested  with  almost  all  the 
judicial  powers  which  were  exercised  within  the  limits 
of  the  city.  The  only  important  exception  to  this  rule 
was  to  be  found  in  the  powers  possessed  by  the  court 
of  the  colony  occupying  a  position  similar  to  that  of 
the  state  supreme  court  which  was  the  only  court  of 
general  common  law  jurisdiction  to  be  found.- 

The  mayor,  recorder,  aldermen,  and  councilmen,  or 

^  In  some  of  the  English  cities,  however,  the  titular  officer 
corresponding  to  the  early  American  mayor  was  appointed 
either  by  the  crown  or  by  some  powerful  nobleman. 

^  It  is  perfectly  easy  to  trace  in  the  legislation  of  the  state 
of  New  York  the  development,  from  these  judicial  powers  of 
the  mayor,  recorder,  and  aldermen,  of  all  of  the  courts  within 
the  city  of  New  York  which  exercise  civil  and  criminal  juris- 
diction, outside  of  the  supreme  court.    Infra,  p.  205  et  seq. 

50 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


assistants,  were  then  to  constitute  the  common  council 
of  the  colonial  municipal  corporation.  As  a  general 
thing  provision  was  made  in  the  royal  charters  for 
district  representation.  For  example,  the  Montgom- 
erie  charter  of  New  York  provided  that  one  alderman 
and  one  assistant  were  to  be  elected  in  each  of  the 
wards  into  which  the  city  was  divided.  Apart  from 
the  provisions  of  the  charter  with  regard  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  council,  the  royal  charters  did  very  little 
toward  providing  for  the  detailed  organization  of  the 
city  administration.  This  was  left  to  the  council  to 
arrange  by  ordinance. 

Some  of  the  charters,  however,  made  provision  for 
the  special  treatment  of  general  colonial  administra- 
tive business  which  had  to  be  attended  to  as  well 
within  as  without  the  limits  of  the  city.  Thus,  the 
Montgomerie  charter  of  New  York  provided  for  the 
election,  in  the  wards  into  which  the  city  was  divided, 
of  assessors  and  collectors  to  assess  and  collect  the 
general  colonial  taxes,  and  constables  to  preserve  the 
peace.  New  York  also,  inasmuch  as  the  city  of  New 
York  was  from  the  beginning  placed  in  the  position  of 
a  separate  county,  was  exempted  from  the  jurisdiction 
of  any  county  authority.  A  separate  sheritf  was  pro- 
vided for  in  the  charter  to  act  for  the  city  and  county 
of  New  York,  and  after  the  development  of  boards  of 
supervisors,  which  were  finally  established  in  1703 
throughout  the  colony,  the  mayor,  recorder,  and  alder- 
men were  authorized  to  discharge  for  the  city  and 
county  of  New  York  functions  similar  to  those  which 
were  discharged  in  the  other  counties  by  their  boards 
of  supervisors. 

51 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Original  Sphere  of  Action  of  American  Cities.  The 

sphere  of  action  of  these  early  American  municipal 
corporations  was  very  much  the  same  as  that  of  the 
English  municipal  corporation  of  the  same  period. 
This  sphere  of  action  was  quite  narrow  when  com- 
pared with  that  possessed  by  the  modem  American 
municipal  corporation.  The  functions  possessed  by 
the  municipal  authorities  were  more  of  a  police  and 
judicial  than  an  administrative  character.  The  ju- 
dicial functions  of  certain  members  of  the  council 
have  already  been  considered.  The  police  functions 
of  the  council,  using  the  word  in  its  broad  sense,  were 
considerable.  Thias  the  council  had  general  authority 
to  pass  such  ordinances  as  seemed  "to  be  good,  useful, 
or  necessary  for  the  good  rule  and  government  of  the 
body  corporate,"  subject  merely  to  the  limitation  that 
these  ordinances  be  "not  contradictory  or  repugnant" 
to  the  laws  of  England. 

The  exercise  of  this  police  power,  which  was  theo- 
retically a  very  large  one,  was,  however,  very  much 
limited  by  the  fact  that  the  financial  resources  of  the 
corporations  were  very  small.  Some  of  the  corpora- 
tions, of  which  New  York  was  a  rather  exceptional 
example,  obtained  by  their  charters  large  property 
rights,  receiving  among  other  things  ferry,  dock, 
and  wharf  rights.  But  in  few  instances  was  the  in- 
come from  the  property,  which  a  city  possessed,  sup- 
plemented by  the  right  of  local  taxation.  The  result 
was  that  the  income  of  these  corporations  was  insuffi- 
cient to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  very  modest  kind 
of  municipal  government  which  they  carried  on  and 
resort  had  to  be  had  to  loans  and  to  municipal  lot- 

52 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


teries,  from  M'hose  income  the  debts  which  were  in- 
cvirred  were  discharged.^  At  quite  an  early  time  in 
the  history  of  the  colonial  corporations,  however,  the 
insufficiency  of  the  revenues  of  the  corporations  re- 
sulted in  an  application  by  those  bodies  to  the  legisla- 
ture for  the  power  to  levy  taxes  for  specific  purposes. 
The  first  instance  of  such  an  application  is  said  to 
have  been  in  1676,  when  the  corporation  of  New  York, 
on  its  application,  was  authorized  to  levy  a  tax  to  pay 
off  debts  incurred  in  rebuilding  one  of  its  docks.^  By 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  however,  taxa- 
tion became  a  regular  source  of  a  considerable  part 
of  the  revenue  of  most  all  the  colonial  corporations. 
In  some  cases  the  power  to  tax  was  granted  only  for 
specific  purposes ;  in  other  cases  the  power  might  be 
exercised  for  any  of  the  purposes  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment, but  limits  were  imposed  upon  the  amount 
of  money  which  could  be  raised. 

The  result  of  the  narrow  powers  of  the  colonial 
municipal  corporations  was  that  little  or  no  attention 
was  paid  to  a  long  series  of  matters  which  we  regard 
at  the  present  time  as  essential  parts  of  municipal  ad- 
ministration. For  example,  little  was  done  by  the 
corporations  to  supply  the  cities  with  water.  All 
that  was  usually  done  was  for  the  council  to  pass 
regulations  of  a  police  character  to  prevent  the  foul- 
ing of  the  wells  and  pumps  from  which  the  people 
of  the  city  obtained  their  water.  In  some  cases  the 
council  appointed  overseers  of  wells  and  pumps  whose 
duty  it  was  to  keep  the  wells  and  pumps  in  good  order. 

■  Cf.  Durand,  ' '  The  Finances  of  New  York  City, ' '  p.  24. 
■IMd.,  p.  19. 

53 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


'J'he  first  city  in  this  country  which  attempted  to  es- 
tablish a  model  waterworks  plant  was  the  city  of 
Albany,  which  began  its  work  in  this  direction  in 
1774.  In  the  same  way  little  or  no  attention  was 
paid  to  charities  or  public  schools.  In  Philadelphia 
alone  was  either  of  these  matters  under  the  control 
of  ofiScers  provided  by  the  city  authorities.  Else- 
where the  poor  officers  were  separately  elected,  as  a 
general  thing,  in  close  connection  with  the  ecclesias- 
tical organizations,  and  schools  were  conducted  by 
private  persons  or  by  the  churches. 

The  position  of  the  American  municipalities  at  the 
end  of  the  colonial  period  was,  then,  that  of  organi- 
zations which  had  been  formed  for  the  satisfaction  of 
what  were  then  regarded  as  the  local  needs  of  the  dis- 
trict over  which  the  corporation  had  jurisdiction. 
The  conception  of  what  were  local  needs  was  both 
broader  and  narrower  than  it  is  at  the  present  time. 
It  was  broader  in  that  judicial  powers  were  regarded 
as  sufficiently  local  to  be  delegated  to  the  cities. 
During  the  nineteenth  century  these  judicial  powers 
have  very  largely  been  taken  by  the  state  into  its  own 
administration.  The  powers  of  municipal  corporations 
were  narrower  than  they  are  now,  inasmuch  as  many, 
if  not  most,  of  the  matters  which  receive  attention  by 
the  mianicipal  corporations  of  the  present  time  not 
only  did  not  receive  attention  but  were  not  regarded 
as  having  been  given  into  the  charge  of  the  municipal 
corporations  by  their  charters.  The  narrowness  of 
their  powers  and  the  rather  local  and  guasi-private 
character  of  these  powers  were  undoubtedly  responsi- 
ble in  some  degree  for  the  conception  which  was  held 

54 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


by  the  people  of  the  day,  that  the  municipal  corpora- 
tions were  not  liable  to  be  controlled  to  any  very  great 
extent  by  the  legislatures  of  the  colonies. 

Change  in  the  Position  of  American  Cities.  The 

nineteenth  century  brought  about  great  changes,  both 
in  the  position  which  the  city  occupied  in  the  state 
government,  and  in  the  organization  of  the  city  for 
the  purpose  of  discharging  the  functions  which  were 
intrusted  to  it. 

The  position  of  the  city  has  been  changed  from  that 
of  an  organization  for  the  satisfaction  of  local  needs 
to  that  of  a  well-recognized  agent  of  state  government. 
The  state  government  of  the  present  time  makes  use 
of  the  city  or  of  its  officers  as  agents  for  the  purposes 
of  general  state  administration.  In  financial  matters 
the  city,  when  of  large  size,  is  often  made  the  agent  of 
the  state  for  the  assessment  and  collection  of  taxes. 
Indeed,  the  city  itself  is  often  the  taxpayer  of  certain 
of  the  state  taxes,  as  for  example,  the  general  property 
tax,  and  adds  the  amount,  which  it  pays  to  the  state, 
to  the  amount  which  it  collects  from  the  inhabitants 
for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  expenses  of  the  city. 
In  the  colonial  period,  the  state  taxes  were  often  col- 
lected by  state  officers  acting  within  the  city,  but  not 
a  part  of  the  general  corporate  organization.  When 
the  system  of  local  taxation  was  developed,  the  begin- 
ning of  which  we  have  already  noticed,  it  seemed  ad- 
visable, for  reasons  of  convenience  and  economy,  to 
combine  the  collection  of  local  and  state  taxes  in  the 
same  officers.  These  officers  were  naturally  the  muni- 
cipal officers,  inasmuch  as  the  general  system  of  de- 

55 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


centralized  administration,  which  was  adopted  for 
the  state  as  a  whole/  confided  the  care  of  such  matters 
to  ofifieers  chosen  directly  or  indirectly  by  the  localities 
in  which  the  duties  were  performed.^ 

What  has  been  said  of  the  tax  administration  may 
be  said  also  of  other  branches  of  administration,  both 
those  which  were  being  attended  to  by  governmental 
action  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
those  which  have  been  developed  during  the  course  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Thus  in  cities  of  large  size, 
in  accordance  with  the  principles  of  decentralized  ad- 
ministration, which  have  been  spoken  of,  the  care  of 
the  poor  has  often  been  vested  in  the  local  corpora- 
tions or  officers.  The  same  may  be  said  of  education. 
The  schools,  which,  at  first,  were  really  nothing  more 
than  private  schools,  have  been  made  a  part  of  the 
city  administration.  The  result  of  this  development 
has  been  to  put  the  city  in  the  position  not  merely  of 
an  organization  for  the  satisfaction  of  local  needs, 
but  also  in  that  of  an  agent  for  the  purposes  of  gen- 
eral state  administration. 

But  while  the  sphere  of  the  state  agency  of  cities 
has  thus  vastly  increased,  it  must  not  be  supposed  that 
their  functions  as  local  organizations  have  not  also 

^  For  a  sketch  of  this  system,  see  infra,  p.  69. 

"  Within  the  last  twenty-five  years  there  has  been  somewhat 
sf  a  change  in  this  matter  of  taxation,  and  the  modern  ten- 
dency has  been  in  the  direction  of  providing  separate  taxes 
for  the  state,  to  be  collected  by  its  own  officers,— taxes,  for 
example,  like  the  corporation  tax,  the  succession  tax,  or  the 
liquor  tax,  as  in  New  York,  — and  a  system  of  local  taxation  for 
the  cities  and  other  localities,  which  is  put  into  the  hands  of 
local  officers. 

56 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


increased  in  importance.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  city  of  New  York  began  the 
construction  of  the  Croton  aqueduct.  Later  on  it 
established  a  professional  police  and  fire  force.  About 
the  middle  of  the  century  it  began  the  laying  out  of 
a  park  system.  The  streets  were  very  commonly  sew- 
ered and  paved,  and,  indeed,  by  1850  the  whole  sphere 
of  municipal  activity  had  extended  far  beyond  the 
dreams  of  the  city  inhabitants  of  1800.  What  was 
done  in  New  York  was  very  soon  copied  in  other 
cities,  so  that  at  the  present  time  almost  all  cities  of 
the  country,  while  important  agents  of  state  govern- 
ment, have,  as  a  result  of  the  enormous  extension  of 
the  sphere  of  distinctly  municipal  activity,  become 
even  more  important  as  organs  for  the  satisfaction  of 
local  needs.  A  good  method  of  judging  the  degree 
of  this  extension  of  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity  is 
to  be  found  in  the  expenditures  of  cities.  The  total 
expenditure  of  New  York  at  the  present  time  is  some- 
thing more  than  $150,000,000  annually,  and  this  sum 
was  in  1898  equaled  by  the  aggregate  expenditures 
of  the  seven  other  cities  of  400,000  population  in  the 
country.^ 

Legislative  Interference  with  Cities.  This  great  de- 
velopment of  the  local  side  of  municipal  corporations 
has  not,  however,  been  accompanied  by  the  applica- 
tion of  the  same  principle  that  seems  to  have  been  ap- 
plied to  municipal  corporations  during  the  colonial 
period.    It  has  been  pointed  out  that  during  that 

'Fairlie,  "Municipal  Development  in  the  United  States  " 
in  "  A  Municipal  Program, ' '  p.  28. 

57 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


period  the  corporations  were  regarded  as  in  very  large 
degree  free  from  central  control.^  But  about  1850 
the  legislatures  of  the  states  began  to  interfere  in  the 
government  of  cities.  Undoubtedly  one  of  the  rea- 
sons for  this  interference  is  to  be  found  in  the  more 
public  character  which  had  been  assigned  to  munici- 
pal corporations.  Legislative  control  over  cities  was 
the  only  state  control  possible  under  the  general  ad- 
ministrative system.  Legislative  control  was  necessary 
as  to  matters  in  which  the  cities  acted  as  agents  of 
the  state  government.  Accustomed  to  interfere  in 
matters  which  were  of  interest  to  the  state  govern- 
ment, the  legislatures  failed  to  distinguish  between 
such  matters  and  matters  which  were  of  main,  if  not 
of  exclusive,  interest  to  the  cities  themselves.  The 
legislatures  were  able  to  carry  this  interference  to 
the  extent  to  which  it  was  carried  because  of  the 
adoption  of  the  legal  theory  that  the  municipal  cor- 
poration was  a  mere  creature  of  the  state.^  Legisla- 
tive interference  became  so  great,  however,  that  a 
number  of  states  inserted  provisions  into  the  state 
constitutions  which  were  intended  to  prevent  abso- 
lutely all  interference  with  particular  matters  or  to 
prevent  the  legislature  from  adopting  certain  methods 
of  interference  which  had  proved  to  be  particularly 
bad.    Some  states,  like  the  state  of  New  York,  in- 

'  For  example,  Judge  Spencer  of  the  Xew  York  Supreme 
Court,  said  (Mayor  v.  Ordrenan,  12  Johns.,  125)  that  it  was 
the  almost  invariable  course  of  procedure  for  the  legislature 
not  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  a  corporation  with- 
out its  consent. 

'Cf.  infra,  p.  73. 

58 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


serted  in  their  constitutions  provisions  securing  to 
municipal  corporations  the  local  selection  of  their 
own  officers.  But  the  most  common  method  which 
was  adopted  was  to  prohibit  all  special  legislation  with 
regard  to  cities.^ 

Change  in  the  Organization  of  Cities.  Not  only  has 
the  position  of  the  city  been  changed,  but  also  its 
organization  has  been  subjected  to  great  modification. 
The  first  change  that  was  made  in  the  original  system 
of  municipal  government,  which  may  be  called  the 
council  system  of  government,  was  facilitated  by  the 
distinction  made  in  the  original  charters  between  the 
mayor  and  the  council.  While  facilitated  by  this 
distinction,  the  change  that  was  made  was  due,  how- 
ever, it  is  believed,  to  the  attempt  to  transfer  to  muni- 
cipal conditions  principles  of  political  science  which 
had  been  formulated  with  regard  to  the  state  and 
national  goverments.^  It  is  probably  true  that  the 
original  council  system  did  not  work  altogether  satis- 
factorily.' It  cannot  be  said,  however,  that  the 
charges  made  against  the  system  were  very  definite  or 
very  severe.*    In  any  case,  soon  after  the  expiration 

^  Infra,  p.  93. 

'  Durand,  op.  cit.,  p.  45. 

'  The  probable  cause  of  such  trouble  as  there  was,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  municipal  governments  very  early 
in  their  history  became  involved  in  the  struggles  and  conten- 
tions of  the  national  and  state  political  parties.  See  ibid., 
p.  38,  where  a  most  striking  example  is  given  of  the  influence 
on  elections  in  the  city  of  New  York  of  the  national  political 
parties  of  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century.  See  also 
infra,  p.  61, 

♦  Ibid.,  p.  45. 

59 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


of  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  changes 
were  introduced  into  the  original  municipal  organi- 
zation which  had  the  result  of  making  it  conform  to 
the  system  of  government  adopted  for  the  state  and 
the  nation. 

The  result  of  the  application  to  municipal  organi- 
zation of  the  principles  at  the  bottom  of  the  state  and 
national  governments  was,  in  the  first  place,  the  ac- 
cording to  the  mayor  a  position  similar  to  that  of  the 
governor  in  the  state  government,  and  the  president  in 
the  national  government.  Thus  the  mayor  was  to  be 
chosen  by  the  people  and  not  by  the  state  governor 
or  city  council.  Popular  election  was  provided  in 
Boston  and  St.  Louis  in  1822  and  in  Detroit  in  1824. 
In  1834  the  mayor  of  New  York  became  elective,  and 
at  the  present  time  the  principle  of  an  elective  mayor 
may  be  regarded  as  permanently  adopted  in  the  muni- 
cipal system  of  the  United  States.  In  the  second 
place,  the  council  was  treated  as  if  it  occupied  a  posi- 
tion in  the  city  government  similar  to  that  of  the 
legislature  in  the  state  and  national  governments. 
The  council  was  quite  frequently  made  to  consist  of 
two  chambers.  The  only  reason  for  the  change  that 
can  be  found  is  the  desire  to  model  the  council  upon 
the  state  legislature.  It  is,  of  course,  true  that  from 
the  very  beginning  the  council  consisted  of  the  two 
classes  of  officers  who  have  been  referred  to  respec- 
tively as  aldermen  and  councilmen  or  assistants.  The 
distinction  made  between  these  two  classes  of  council 
members  was  made,  however,  not  so  far  as  their  legis- 
lative and  administrative  duties  were  concerned,  but 
had  particular  reference  to  the  performance  of  those 

60 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


judicial  duties  which,  by  the  charter,  were  imposed 
upon  the  aldermen. 

By  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  then, 
the  municipal  organization  which  had  been  developed 
was  of  a  type  modeled  very  closely  upon  the  system 
of  government  in  the  state  and  the  nation,  and  con- 
sisted of  a  mayor,  who  was  elected  by  popular  vote, 
and  had  very  commonly  a  veto  power  over  the  resolu- 
tions of  the  council  similar  to  that  possessed  by  the 
president  and  state  governor  over  the  acts  of  Congress 
and  the  state  legislature  respectively,  and  a  council, 
also  elected  by  popular  vote,  which  was  frequently 
composed  of  two  chambers. 

This  system  of  government  was  not,  however,  a  sat- 
isfactory one.  Prior  to  the  making  of  these  changes 
in  the  municipal  organization,  the  complaints  against 
the  council  were  neither  frequent  nor  severe.  Very 
soon  after  the  change  was  made  they  increased  both 
in  number  and  in  vehemence.  About  this  time  the 
great  national  parties  were  developing  throughout  the 
country  as  a  whole,  and  were  reaching  out  in  every 
direction  for  means  by  which  to  increase  their  power. 
There  was  no  branch  of  the  government  whose  pos- 
session could  so  much  increase  the  power  of  political 
parties  as  the  city  governments.  All  the  cities  had, 
as  compared  with  the  other  districts  in  the  country, 
large  numbers  of  officers  and  employees,  and  all  were 
spending  a  large  proportion  of  the  money  which  was 
spent  by  the  governmental  authorities  of  the  country. 
Either  because  of  the  inefficiency  of  the  city  govern- 
ments, which  certainly  became  quite  marked  soon 
after  1850,  or  because  of  the  desire  of  the  political 

61 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


parties  to  get  control  of  the  city  governments  in  order 
to  increase  their  power  in  the  state  and  nation, 
changes  were  made  in  the  system  of  city  government 
as  it  existed  in  1850,  which  resulted  in  the  ushering 
in  of  a  new  period  in  the  development  of  municipal 
organization  in  the  United  States.  This  new  system 
we  may  speak  of  as  the  board  system. 

Board  System  of  City  Government.  As  we  originally 
find  it,  the  board  system  was  little  more  than  a  system 
of  boards  independent  of  the  city  council.  The  origin 
of  the  system  is  probably  to  be  found  in  the  New  York 
charter  of  1849.  This  made  provision  for  independent 
executive  departments  and  for  taking  from  the  coun- 
cil almost  all  administrative  power.  The  reasons  for 
the  change  were  somewhat  the  same  as  those  for  the 
establishment  of  the  mayor  in  a  position  of  indepen- 
dence over  against  the  council.  That  is,  it  was  desired 
to  model  the  city  organization  on  that  of  the  state  and 
national  government.  The  influence  of  the  democratic 
spirit,  so  prevalent  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  is  seen  in  the  provision  of  the  charter  of  1849, 
that  the  heads  of  the  new  executive  departments  were 
to  be  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city.  The  election 
of  the  heads  of  these  departments  was  seen  at  once  to 
be  unsatisfactory,  and  by  the  charter  of  1853  the 
power  was  given  to  the  mayor  to  appoint,  subject  to 
the  approval  of  the  city  council,  the  heads  of  all  de- 
partments except  the  comptroller,  and  the  corporation 
counsel.  The  example  set  by  New  York  was  followed 
by  other  cities.  Thus  Cleveland  provided  for  elective 
departments  in  1852 ;  Detroit,  in  1857. 

62 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


Soon  after  the  adoption  of  this  board  system,  how- 
ever, the  legishitiires  of  the  states  began  to  provide 
for  the  state  appointment  of  the  members  of  city- 
boards.  This  custom  on  the  part  of  the  legislature 
began  just  before  1860.  The  first  point  of  attack  was 
the  police  department.  Later  on  the  attempt  was 
made  to  introduce  this  system  into  other  branches  of 
municipal  administration. 

By  about  1860  it  may  be  said  that  in  all  the  impor- 
tant cities  of  the  United  States  the  most  important 
parts  of  the  city  governments  were  in  the  hands  of 
boards  largely  independent  of  the  council,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  were  in  some  instances  appointed  by  the 
central  state  government,  in  some  instances  by  the 
jnayors  of  the  cities,  either  acting  alone  or  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  city  councils,  and  in  some  cases  elected 
by  the  people  of  the  city.  At  the  time  that  this  system 
was  at  its  height,  the  members  of  these  boards  were 
not  only  independent  of  the  council,  but  were  also 
practically  independent  of  the  mayor.  They  were  in- 
dependent of  the  mayor  even  where  he  appointed 
them.  For,  as  a  general  thing,  they  could  not  be  re- 
moved from  office  by  the  mayor  except  for  cause. 
This  meant  that  they  could  be  removed  only  as  the 
result  of  charges  and  after  a  hearing,  and  the  deter- 
mination of  the  removing  authority  was  subject  to  the 
review  of  the  courts. 

The  result  of  the  introduction  of  this  system  was 
completely  to  disorganize  the  municipal  administra- 
tion. Each  impoi-tant  branch  of  city  government 
was  attended  to  by  a  board  or  officer  practically  inde- 
pendent of  any  other  municipal  authority.    No  one 

63 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


mayor,  because  of  the  shortness  of  his  term  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  these  officers  and  the  members  of 
these  boards,  could  appoint  all  the  city  officers  or  all 
the  members  of  any  one  board.  The  result  was  that 
the  municipal  organization  consisted  of  a  collection 
of  independent  authorities,  and  that  the  mayor,  where 
the  right  of  local  appointment  was  secured  to  him,  was 
merely  an  officer  who  could  fill  vacancies  in  the  va- 
rious offices  which  happened  to  occur  during  his  term. 

Finally,  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  frequently  the  acts 
of  the  legislature  establishing  these  municipal  boards 
or  commissions,  provided  for  what  are  sometimes 
called  non-partisan,  at  other  times  bi-partisan,  com- 
missions. The  provision  for  the  bi-partisan  or  non- 
partisan board  took  one  of  two  forms :  It  was  enacted 
either  that  no  more  than  a  certain  number,  either  half 
or  a  bare  majority  of  the  members,  should  belong  to 
the  same  political  party,  or  that  half  of  the  members 
of  the  board  should  belong  to  each  of  the  two  leading 
political  parties.  This  common  provision  in  the  acts 
establishing  the  board  system  is  an  indication  that 
one  of  the  reasons  for  its  establishment  was  the  desire 
of  the  political  parties  to  secure  the  influence  which 
resulted  from  the  possession  of  power  in  the  city  ad- 
ministration.^ 

We  may  say,  then,  that  by  the  year  1860  the  council 
had  in  most  of  the  larger  American  cities  ceased  to 
be  anything  more  than  a  legislative  body  in  the  city 
government.  It  had  lost  all  its  original  administrative 
functions.   These  had  been  assumed,  in  the  first  place, 

*  See  Wilcox,  ' '  Party  Government  in  Cities  "  in  "  Political 
Science  Quarterly,"  XIV,  p.  681. 

64 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


by  the  mayor,  and,  in  the  second  place,  by  the  officers 
and  boards,  to  which  reference  has  just  been  made. 
The  council  had  lost  also  important  legislative  powers. 
Among  the  important  legislative  powers  which  the 
council  lost  was  the  power  it  possessed,  under  the 
original  charters,  of  organizing  the  details  of  the 
city  administration.  This  power  had  been  lost  because 
of  the  fact  that  the  new  charters  and  acts  of  the 
legislature  regulating  the  city  government  went  into 
great  detail.  The  assumption  by  the  legislature  of 
this  former  power  of  the  city  council  had  extremely 
bad  effects.  It  resulted,  in  the  first  place,  in  the 
regulation  of  the  details  of  city  government  by  an 
authority  which  had  little  knowledge  of  the  needs  of 
the  city.  This  authority  was  often  governed  in  its 
action  not  by  considerations  which  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  welfare  of  the  city,  but  by  considerations 
of  partisan  politics.  In  the  second  place,  the  regu- 
lation of  the  details  of  municipal  organization  by 
the  legislature  offered  a  constant  temptation  and  op- 
portunity to  interfere  in  matters  which  properly 
should  have  been  left  to  the  municipality  to  regulate. 
It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  introduction  of  this 
board  system,  accompanied,  as  it  was,  by  the  assump- 
tion by  the  legislature  of  the  power  to  regulate  the 
details  of  city  organization,  was  one  of  the  chief  causes 
for  the  great  extension  of  the  control  of  the  legislature 
over  municipal  affairs  generally. 

Mayor  System  of  City  Government.     But  about  1880 
the  people  of  the  United  States  seem  to  have  awakened 
to  the  fact  that  the  board  system  did  not  work  satis- 
5  65 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


factorily;  that  it  diffused  responsibility  for  municipal 
action ;  that  it  made  it  impossible  for  the  people,  at 
any  given  municipal  election,  to  exercise  any  appre- 
ciable control  over  the  municipal  government,  and 
that  it  offered  a  continual  temptation  to  the  legisla- 
ture to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  the  city.  The  result 
was  an  attempt  to  change  again  the  municipal  organi- 
zation. The  changes  that  were  introduced  into  the  sys- 
tem, beginning  with  about  the  year  1880,  may  be  said 
to  have  ushered  in  a  new  period  of  municipal  develop- 
ment, which  we  may  call  the  mayor  period  The  first 
modification  of  the  board  system  which  was  made  in 
any  important  city  charter  was  made  in  the  charter 
of  the  city  of  Brooklyn  about  the  year  1882.  By  this 
charter,  the  mayor  was  given  the  right,  within  twenty 
days  after  assuming  office,  to  appoint  new  heads  of 
the  executive  departments.  The  example  of  Brooklyn 
was  followed  by  the  city  of  New  York  in  the  year 
1895.  As  a  result  of  the  continued  success  of  one 
political  party  at  the  city  elections  in  the  years  pre- 
ceding 1895,  all  of  the  boards  and  offices  of  the  city 
were  practically  controlled  by  adherents  of  this  or- 
ganization. In  1894  this  organization  was  defeated 
at  the  polls  after  a  campaign  of  great  interest  and 
excitement.  It  was  felt  by  the  people  of  the  city 
•  and  by  the  legislature  of  the  state  that,  under  existing 
conditions,  the  new  administration  could  not  represent 
the  wishes  of  the  people  who  had  put  it  into  power, 
and  therefore  a  law  was  passed  in  1895  giving  to  the 
mayor  the  right,  within  six  months  after  assuming  his 
office,  to  remove  the  heads  of  departments  from  office 
arbitrarily  and  not  subject  to  the  review  of  the  courts. 

66 


AMERICAN  MUNICIPAL  DEVELOPMENT 


In  the  meantime  the  mayor  had  received  an  absolute 
power  of  appointment  in  a  number  of  cities,  among 
which  was  the  city  of  New  York,  being  relieved  from 
the  necessity  of  obtaining  the  consent  of  the  council 
to  his  appointments.  Later  on  a  number  of  cities,  to 
which  the  city  of  New  York  was  added  by  its  recent 
charter  of  1901,  adopted  the  principle  of  arbitrary  re- 
moval by  the  mayor  throughout  his  entire  term.  The 
change  in  the  municipal  organization  which  has  just 
been  outlined  was  accompanied  in  many  instances  by 
the  substitution  of  single  commissioners  for  boards  as 
department  heads.  The  single  commissioner  was  re- 
garded as  a  necessary  part  of  the  original  Brooklyn 
plan. 

This  system  of  city  government  we  may  call  the 
mayor  system  of  government.  It  is  characterized  by 
the  fact  that  the  mayor  is  vested  with  the  absolute 
power  of  appointing  and  removing  most  of  the  im- 
portant municipal  officers.  The  mayor  system  may 
possibly  be  .regarded  as  the  coming  system  in  the 
United  States.  But  it  cannot  be  said  that  it  has  been 
generally  adopted  throughout  the  country.  Indeed, 
it  is  difficult  to  say  what  at  the  present  time  is  the 
American  type  of  municipal  government.  Most  of 
the  charters  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States  show 
the  influences  of  the  different  periods  of  municipal 
development  which  have  been  outlined.  Thus  we 
find  in  a  number  of  cities  that  the  council  still  has 
a  great  deal  of  power.  We  find  again,  in  a  number, 
independent  departments,  the  heads  of  which  in  some 
cases  are  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city  in  accor- 
dance with  the  ideas  of  democratic  government  so 

67 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


prevalent  about  1850,^  in  other  cases,  appointed  by 
the  central  government  of  the  state,  in  other  cases,  and 
in  the  majority  of  cases,  appointed  by  the  mayor  and 
confirmed  by  the  council. 

No  American  Type  of  City  Government.  It  cannot, 
therefore,  be  said  that  up  to  the  present  time  the 
United  States  has  developed  a  peculiar  type  of  muni- 
cipal organization.  This  is  due  particularly,  of 
course,  to  the  fact  that  we  have  more  than  forty  dif- 
ferent legislatures  legislating  upon  the  subject.  It 
is  due  also  to  the  non-existence  of  any  general  idea 
as  to  the  position  which  the  city  occupies.  Only  after 
we  have  comprehended  that  the  city  is  at  the  same 
time  an  agent  of  state  government  and  an  organiza- 
tion for  the  satisfaction  of  local  needs,  in  the  one 
case  properly  subject  to  an  effective  state  control,  in 
the  other  to  be  endowed  with  much  freedom  of  action, 
shall  we  be  able  to  develop  a  distinctive  and  satisfac- 
tory type  of  municipal  organization.  The  position 
which  the  city  occupies  in  our  American  system  of 
government  it  will  be  the  endeavor  of  the  next  chap- 
ter to  ascertain. 

'  This  is  a  feature  of  the  new  Ohio  Municipal  Code,  which 
is  thus  a  step  backward  rather  than  forward. 


68 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  POSITION  OP  THE  CITY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES^ 

The  American  Administrative  System.  In  order  that 
we  may  understand  the  position  which  the  city  occu- 
pies in  the  American  state,  it  is  necessary  that  we 
should  have  at  least  a  general  idea  of  the  American 
system  of  administration.  As  the  city  has  no  relations 
with  the  national  government  it  is  not  necessary  for 
our  purpose  that  we  make  any  study  of  the  national 
administrative  system ;  we  may  confine  our  attention 
to  that  of  the  states. 

The  administrative  system  of  the  states  of  the 
American  Union  is,  notwithstanding  the  'existence  of 
forty-five  states,  one  of  remarkable  uniformity  if  we 
confine  our  attention  to  the  fundamental  principles 
upon  which  it  is  based.  It  rests,  in  the  first  place,  upon 
the  proposition  that  the  state  legislature  is,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  some  constitutional  pi'ovision,  the  depository 
of  all  governmental  power.  The  state  constitution 
has,  however,  apportioned  certain  governmental  pow- 

'  Authorities :  Goodnow,  "Comparative  Administrative 
Law;"  ibid.,  "Municipal  Home  Eule;"  ibid.,  "Municipal 
Problems;"  ibid.,  "Politics  and  Administration;"  Wilcox, 
' '  The  Study  of  City  Government. ' ' 

69 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


ers  to  the  courts,  and  certain  other  such  powers  to 
the  governor  and  other  executive  or  administrative 
officers. 

In  the  second  place,  the  state  administrative  system 
is  based  upon  the  principle  that  the  powers  conferred 
by  the  constitution  upon  the  governor  are  political 
rather  than  administrative  in  character.  Thus  the 
governor  has  certain  powers  relative  to  legislation, 
such  as  the  power  to  recommend  in  his  messages  leg- 
islation on  subjects  with  regard  to  which  he  believes 
legislative  action  desirable,  and  to  withhold  his  ap- 
proval from  bills  passed  by  the  legislature,  which  bills 
when  thus  disapproved  cannot  become  law  unless  they 
are  passed  again  by  the  legislature.  The  governor  has 
also  the  power  of  military  command  as  a  result  of  his 
position  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  military  forces 
of  the  state.  Finally,  the  governor  has  the  power  of 
pardon. 

The  position  of  the  governor  is,  from  the  political 
point  of  view,  of  great  importance.  From  the  point 
of  view  of  the  administration,  even  of  matters  which 
concern  the  welfare  of  the  state  as  a  whole,  the  posi- 
tion of  the  governor  is,  however,  one  of  relative  un- 
importance. From  the  point  of  view  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  local  matters  the  position  of  the  governor 
is  one  which  is  almost  negligible.  The  position  of 
the  governor  in  the  administrative  system  of  the  state 
itself  is  unimportant,  because  most  branches  of  state 
administration  are,  by  the  constitution,  intrusted  to 
officers  neither  appointed  nor  removed  by  him  nor 
subject  to  his  direction  and  control.  Of  recent  years, 
however,  the  tendency  has  been  to  increase  the  powers 

70 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CITY 


of  the  governor  as  the  head  of  the  administrative  sys- 
tem of  the  state,  but  even  now  in  most  states  many 
important  branches  of  state  administration  are  at- 
tended to  by  officers  quite  independent  of  the  gov- 
ernor. 

The  position  of  the  governor  from  the  point  of 
view  of  local  administration  is  absolutely  unimpor- 
tant because  he  has  practically  no  control  over  local 
officers,  even  where  such  officers  are  discharging  func- 
tions which  vitally  interest  the  people  of  the  state  as 
a  whole.  Such  officers  are  furthermore  in  a  similarly 
independent  position  over  against  the  other  state  offi- 
cers at  the  head  of  the  various  branches  of  state 
administration.  For  neither  the  governor  nor  any 
state  officer  has  any  large  powers  of  appointment,  re- 
moval, direction,  or  control  over  local  officers. 

The  administrative  independence  of  local  officers 
is  maintained,  often  as  a  result  of  constitutional  pro- 
vision, notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  state  relies 
on  these  local  officers  for  the  execution  of  laws  whose 
effect  transcends  the  district  over  which  these  officers 
have  jurisdiction  and  is  felt  everywhere  throughout 
the  state.  The  system  of  administration  which  thus 
assures  to  local  officers  this  administrative  indepen- 
dence is  spoken  of  as  a  system  of  local  self-govern- 
ment, or  as  a  decentralized  administrative  system. 

The  American  system  of  administration  is,  however, 
decentralized  only  from  the  administrative  point  of 
view.  From  the  legislative  point  of  view  it  is  highly 
centralized.  In  the  absence  of  constitutional  provi- 
sion to  the  contrary  the  American  system  recognizes 
no  inherent  rights  of  government  in  the  various  local 

71 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


corporations.  As  a  matter  of  practical  legislative 
policy  the  legislature  does  not  as  a  usual  thing  grant 
large  powers  of  local  government  to  local  corpora- 
tions. Many  matters,  however  local  in  character  they 
may  be,  are  regulated  by  the  state  legislature.  This 
body  among  other  things  regulates  in  great  detail  the 
organization  of  the  local  corporations.  Our  system  of 
government  is,  therefore,  both  from  the  legal  point  of 
view  and  from  the  point  of  view  of  practical  legisla- 
tive policy,  one  of  legislative  centralization  and  ad- 
ministrative decentralization. 

In  this  system  the  city  takes  its  place  alongside  of 
the  other  local  corporations,  the  most  important  of 
which  are  the  county  and  the  town.  These  corpora- 
tions, whatever  may  have  been  their  history,  whether 
they  have  antedated  the  state,  as  is  the  case  with 
many  of  the  local  corporations  in  the  Eastern  states, 
or  whether  their  birth  has  followed  that  of  the  state, 
as  is  the  case  with  many  of  the  local  corporations  in 
the  Western  states,  exist  as  a  result  of  legislative  tol- 
erance, or  have  come  into  being  as  a  result  of  positive 
action  on  the  part  of  the  legislature.  This  body  may 
at  any  time  deprive  them  of  their  corporate  life,  may 
arrange  their  organization  to  suit  its  own  caprice,  and 
may  endow  them  with  such  powers  and  impose  on 
them  such  obligations  as  seem  fit  and  proper  to  the 
legislative  intelligence.  It  is  of  course  true  that 
within  comparatively  recent  times  constitutional  pro- 
visions, and  in  some  cases  legislative  statutes,  have 
modified  this  position  and  either  provided  for  a 
greater  administrative  centralization  of  the  general 
system  or  assured  to  the  local  corporations  a  position 

72 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  AJtlERICAN  CITY 


of  greatei'  independence  over  against  the  legislature, 
thus  diminishing  the  legislative  centralization  to 
which  reference  has  been  made.  What  these  provi- 
sions are  will  be  indicated  later.  But  notwithstand- 
ing these  constitutional  provisions  and  legislative 
statutes  the  position  of  the  local  corporations,  of  which 
the  city  is  one,  has  not  been  fundamentally  changed. 
To  understand  what  is  the  position  of  the  American 
city  we  must,  at  any  rate,  begin  our  consideration  of  it 
with  the  idea  that  our  system  of  administration  is  one 
which,  decentralized  from  the  administrative  point  of 
view,  is  centralized  from  the  legislative  point  of  view. 

The  City  a  Creature  of  the  State  Legislature.  The  char- 
acter of  our  administrative  system  has  several  impor- 
tant effects  on  the  position  of  the  city.  In  the  first 
place,  the  city  is  made  by  the  system  the  creature  of 
the  state  legislature.  In  the  absence  of  a  constitu- 
tional restriction  the  legislature  of  the  state  may  do  as 
it  will  with  the  cities  within  its  jurisdiction.  The 
charters  of  cities  are  at  the  present  time  regarded  as 
mere  statutes,  which,  in  the  absence  of  a  constitutional 
limitation  of  the  powers  of  the  legislature,  are  subject 
to  amendment  by  that  body  at  any  time. 

The  legislature  then  has,  under  our  system  of  gov- 
ernment, the  absolute  legal  right  to  regulate  municipal 
affairs  as  it  sees  fit.  It  has  not  only  the  legal  right,  it 
has  also  had  in  the  past  the  moral  right  to  interfere  in 
city  government.  For  the  city  became,  during  the 
course  of  the  nineteenth  century,  an  agent  of  the 
state  government.  The  city  has  ceased  to  be  what  it 
once  was,  merely  an  organization  for  the  satisfaction 

73 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


of  local  needs,  and  has  become  as  well  an  important 
member  of  the  general  state  governmental  system. 
Our  system  of  decentralized  administration  did  not 
permit  of  the  exercise  by  any  state  administrative  au- 
thority of  any  control  over  the  city,  even  where  it  was 
thus  acting  as  an  agent  of  the  state.  It  was  necessary, 
therefore,  if  any  central  control  at  all  should  be  exer- 
cised, that  it  should  be  exercised  by  the  legislature. 

The  City  an  Authority  of  Enumerated  Powers.    In  the 

second  place,  the  city,  in  the  absence  of  a  constitu- 
tional provision,  has  no  powers  not  granted  to  it  by 
the  legislature.^ 

'  Xo  better  or  more  authoritative  statement  of  the  powers 
possessed  by  the  municipal  corporations  in  the  United  States 
can  be  found  than  that  given  by  Judge  DUlon  in  his  great 
work  on  municipal  corporations  and  approved  by  many  of  the 
later  decisions  of  the  courts  themselves  (Dillon,  "Law  of 
Municipal  Corporations,"  4th  ed.,  p.  145).  He  says:  "It  is  a 
general  and  undisputed  proposition  of  law  that  a  municipal 
corporation  possesses  and  can  exercise  the  following  powers 
and  no  others:  First,  those  granted  in  express  words;  second, 
those  necessarily  or  fairly  implied  in  or  incident  to  the  powers 
expressly  granted;  third,  those  essential  to  the  declared  ob- 
jects and  purposes  of  the  corporation — not  simply  convenient 
but  indispensable.  Any  fair  reasonable  doubt  concerning  the 
existence  of  power  is  resolved  by  the  courts  against  the  cor- 
poration and  the  power  is  denied.  Of  every  municipal  corpo- 
ration the  charter  or  statute  by  which  it  is  created  is  its  or- 
ganic act.  Neither  the  corporation  nor  its  oflBcers  can  do  any 
act,  or  make  any  contract,  or  incur  any  liability  not  authorized 
thereby  or  by  some  legislative  act  applicable  thereto.  AU  acts 
beyond  the  scope  of  the  powers  granted  are  void."  Judge 
Dillon  adds  that  while  the  rule  ' '  of  strict  construction  of 
corporate  powers  is  not  so  directly  applicable  to  the  ordinary 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  AMEEICAN  CITY 


It  may  be  added  that  the  legislatures  of  the  states 
have  not  granted  wide  powers  to  cities,  but  have  gen- 
erally enumerated  in  greater  or  less  detail  the  powers 
which  cities  may  exercise.  Thus  when  the  city  of  New 
York  wished  to  build  and  lease  a  rapid-transit  railway 
it  had  no  power  to  do  so,  and  had  to  apply  to  the  leg- 
islature for  the  necessary  authority.  Thus  again 
when  it  wished  to  establish  a  municipal  electric-light- 
ing plant,  it  had  no  power.  When  it  applied  to  the 
legislature  for  authority  in  this  instance  its  applica- 
tion was  denied. 

In  the  third  place,  whatever  may  be  the  theoretical 
power  of  the  city  to  enter  upon  any  particular  branch 
of  governmental  activity,  the  financial  powers  which 
it  possesses  are  so  limited  that  it  is  practically  unable 
to  exercise  the  powers  of  which  it  may  be  possessed 
without  the  grant  to  it  by  the  legislature  of  the  neces- 
sary financial  power.  That  is,  the  American  law  rec- 
ognizes the  taxing  power,  from  whose  exercise  most  of 
the  city's  revenues  must  come,  as  a  power  of  state 
government  possessed  alone  by  the  state  legislature. 
The  city  certainly  does  not  possess  it  in  the  absence 
of  legislative  grant.  The  American  law  also  does  not 
accord  to  cities  large  powers  of  borrowing  money  in 
the  absence  of  legislative  authorization.    In  many 

clauses  in  charters  or  incorporating  acts  of  municipalities  as 
it  is  to  the  charters  of  private  corporations  ...  it  is  equally 
applicable  to  grants  of  powers  to  municipal  and  public  bodies 
which  are  out  of  the  usual  range  or  which  may  result  in  public 
burdens  or  which  in  their  exercise  touch  the  right  of  liberty  or 
property  or,  as  it  may  be  compendiously  expressed,  any  com- 
mon law  right  of  the  citizen  or  inhabitant"  {ibid.,  p.  148). 

75 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


cases  the  legislature  has  been  as  niggardly  in  its 
grants  to  cities  of  financial  powers  as  it  has  been  in  the 
grants  of  other  powers. 

For  all  these  reasons  a  city  in  the  United  States  is, 
in  the  absence  of  constitutional  provisions,  completely 
at  the  mercy  of  the  state  legislature  so  far  as  concerns 
both  its  governmental  powers  and  its  financial  re- 
sources. This  subjection  of  the  city  to  the  state  is  a 
result  of  the  defeat  of  the  cities  in  their  long  struggle 
with  the  state  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  to  which  attention  has  been  called.  In  this 
respect  American  cities  differ  in  no  way  from  Euro- 
pean cities.  The  European  legislature  has  exactly 
the  same  theoretical  powers  over  the  European  city 
as  has  the  American  legislature  over  the  American 
city.  But  the  whole  European  system  of  government 
is  so  different  from  the  American  system  that  the  ac- 
tual position  of  the  city  in  Europe  is  quite  different 
from  that  of  the  city  in  the  United  States. 

The  Anglo-American  local  corporation  is  an  au- 
thority of  enumerated  powers ;  the  European  local 
corporation  is  an  authority  of  general  powers.  The 
Anglo-American  local  corporation  may  do  only  those 
things  which  the  legislature  of  the  state  says  plainly 
that  it  may  do ;  the  European  local  corporation  may 
do  everything  which  the  legislature  of  the  state  has 
not  plainly  forbidden  it  to  do. 

At  first  blush  the  difference  in  the  position  of  the 
American  city  from  that  of  the  European  city  may 
not  seem  to  be  of  great  importance.  A  more  careful 
study  of  the  matter  will,  however,  show  that  this  dif- 
ference is  crucial.   For  the  American  state  legislature 

76 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CITY 


has  been,  one  might  almost  say,  irresistibly  tempted 
so  to  make  use  of  its  well-recognized  powers  over  the 
cities  subject  to  its  jurisdiction,  as  to  deprive  them  of 
most  of  their  functions  of  local  government,  and  to 
make  them  the  playthings  of  state  and  national  party 
politics.  Under  these  conditions  a  scientific  solution 
of  the  vexed  question  of  municipal  organization  has 
been  impossible,  and  the  proper  discharge  by  the  cities 
of  the  functions  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  the  urban 
population  has  been  seriously  interfered  with  if  not 
absolutely  prevented. 

Cities  Have  Lost  Their  Autonomy.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  exercise  of  its  powers  by  the  legislature  has 
deprived  cities  of  their  power  of  local  government. 
The  result  has  come  about  in  the  following  way :  No 
legislature  is  far-seeing  enough  to  be  able  to  deter- 
mine for  all  time  what  powers  it  may  be  expedient 
for  a  city  to  exercise.  No  legislature,  even  under  the 
regime  of  special  city  charters,  can  give  a  particular 
city  powers  which  will  be  permanently  satisfactory 
so  long  as  these  powers  are  enumerated  in  detail.  The 
conditions,  economic  and  otherwise,  upon  which  city 
governments  are  based,  are  continually  changing.  As 
a  result  of  these  changing  conditions  American  cities 
are  forced  to  apply  continually  to  the  legislature  for 
new  and  extended  local  powers.  Such  powers  are 
often  granted  retrospectively  through  the  exercise  of 
the  power  the  legislature  possesses  to  ratify  illegal 
action. 

The  necessity  of  changing  and  extending  local  pow- 
ers has  brought  about  an  immense  amount  of  special 

77 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


legislation,  and  the  legislature,  accustomed  to  regulate 
by  special  act  municipal  affairs  on  the  proposition  of 
the  various  cities,  and  obliged  to  exercise  through 
special  legislation  the  necessary  central  control  over 
matters  attended  to  by  cities  which  are  of  vital  in- 
terest to  the  state  as  a  whole,  has  got  into  the  habit  of 
passing  special  legislation  with  regard  to  purely  mu- 
nicipal matters  of  its  own  motion  not  only  without 
the  consent  of  the  local  people,  but  often  against  their 
will,  and  for  reasons  in  many  cases  in  no  way  con- 
nected with  their  local  welfare.  The  condition  of 
things  which  has  resulted  from  this  habit  of  the  legis- 
lature is  one  about  which  there  is  no  difference  of  opin- 
ion. In  those  states  where  such  central  interference 
has  been  most  marked  the  people  of  the  cities  have  very 
largely  lost  interest  in  the  municipal  government,  and 
whenever  they  desire  to  see  some  concrete  municipal 
policy  adopted  their  point  of  attack  is  the  state  leg- 
islature rather  than  any  local  and  municipal  organ. 
In  New  York  city,  for  example,  the  people  have  be- 
come so  accustomed  to  this  method  of  action  that  they 
regard  it  as  perfectly  natural  and  normal.^ 

'  The  condition  of  things  which  this  centralization  of  local 
matters  in  the  legislature  has  produced  cannot  be  better  de- 
scribed than  in  the  words  of  the  Fassett  Committee  in  their 
report,  made  in  1891,  on  the  government  of  the  cities  of  the 
state  of  New  York.  Here  it  is  said  that  "it  is  frequently 
impossible  for  the  legislature,  the  municipal  officers,  or  even 
for  the  courts  to  tell  what  the  laws  mean ;  that  it  is  usually 
impossible  for  the  legislature  to  tell  what  the  probable  effect 
of  any  alleged  reform  in  the  laws  is  likely  to  be;  that  it  is 
impossible  for  any  one,  either  in  private  life  or  in  public 
office,  to  tell  what  the  exact  business  condition  of  any  city 

78 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CITY 


Political  Parties  and  City  Government.  The  loss  of 
local  government  by  the  cities  and  the  resulting  lack 
of  interest  of  municipal  citizens  in  the  conduct  of  city 
affairs  are  not,  however,  the  worst  results  of  the  actual 
position  which  the  city  occupies  in  the  American  po- 
litical system.  More  serious  is  the  fact  that  owing  to 
this  position  it  is  practically  impossible  to  secure  a 
solution  of  any  one  of  our  municipal  problems  unin- 
fluenced by  the  consideration  of  the  effect  which  the 
solution  proposed  may  have  on  questions  of  state  and 
national  politics. 

The  influence  which  has  been  accorded  to  the  state 

is,  and  that  municipal  government  is  a  mystery  even  to  the 
experienced ;  that  municipal  officers  have  no  certainty  as  to 
their  tenure  of  office;  that  municipal  officers  can  escape  re- 
sponsibility for  their  acts  or  failures  by  securing  amendments 
to  the  lav?;  that  municipal  officers  can  escape  responsibility 
to  the  public  on  account  of  the  unintelligibility  of  the  laws 
and  the  insufficient  publicity  of  the  facts  relative  to  municipal 
government;  that  local  authorities  receive  permission  to  in- 
crease the  municipal  debt  for  the  performance  of  public  works 
which  should  be  paid  for  out  of  taxes ;  that  the  conflict  of 
authority  is  sometimes  so  great  as  to  result  in  a  complete  or 
partial  paralysis  of  the  service;  that  our  cities  have  no  real 
local  autonomy;  that  local  self-government  is  a  misnomer;  and 
that  consequently  so  little  interest  is  felt  in  matters  of  local 
business  that  in  almost  every  city  in  the  state  it  has  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  professional  politicians.  .  .  .  These  are 
conditions  which  if  applied  to  the  business  of  any  other  cor- 
poration would  make  the  maintenance  of  a  continued  policy 
and  a  successful  administration  as  impossible  as  they  are  to- 
day in  the  government  of  our  municipalities,  and  produce 
viraste  and  mismanagement  such  as  is  now  the  distinguishing 
feature  of  municipal  business  as  compared  with  that  of  private 
corporations"  (Senate  Committee's  Report,  Vol.  V,  p.  13). 

79 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


and  national  political  parties  in  the  municipal  affairs 
of  the  American  city  has  been  to  a  degree,  at  any 
rate,  inevitable.  Our  system  of  government  is  based 
on  a  system  of  checks  and  balances  and  independent 
governmental  authorities.  The  system  has  afforded 
continual  opportunities  for  conflict  between  these  au- 
thorities, but  it  has  provided  no  means  of  settling 
such  conflicts.  These  conflicts  had,  however,  to  be 
settled,  or  governmental  paralysis  would  have  super- 
vened. Means  had,  therefore,  to  be  found  outside  of 
the  government  for  their  settlement.  As  Mr.  Henry 
J.  Ford  says  in  his  book  on  ' '  The  Rise  and  Growth 
of  American  Politics":^  "The  rigid  framework  of 
the  constitution  forced  political  government  to  find 
its  outlet  in  extra-constitutional  agencies,  bring- 
ing the  executive  and  legislative  branches  under 
a  common  control  despite  the  constitutional  theory." 
"Parties  were  founded  whose  organization  was  gradu- 
ally to  develop  a  strength  and  an  elaboration  equal  to 
the  intricate  tasks  imposed  by  the  complex  nature  of 
the  government."  Originally  politics  could  "be 
managed  by  conference  and  agreement  among  gen- 
tlemen and  the  conduct  of  politics  had  to  defer  to 
their  class  opinions.  But  the  spread  of  democratic  in- 
fluences was  rapid.  The  growth  of  city  population 
developed  an  electorate  which  soon  dispossessed  itself 
of  habits  of  deference  to  social  superiors  so  that  it  had 
to  be  wrought  upon  by  other  influences.  There  were 
none  so  available  as  those  connected  with  the  use  of 
patronage,  and  this  use  had  to  conform  with  the 
changing  conditions  of  polities."  Mr.  Dorman  B. 
'  See  p.  71. 
80 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CITY 


Eaton,  in  his  book  on  "The  Government  of  INIuuiei- 
palities, ' '  ^  says :  "It  was  natural  and  inevitable 
under  such  conditions  that  political  parties  should 
grasp  for  the  control  of  cities  and  villages,  and  extend 
their  party  tests  and  spoils-system  methods  over 
them.  Nowhere  else  could  parties  so  effectually  or- 
ganize, find  so  many  subservient  voters,  grasp  so 
much  patronage  or  so  easily  extort  large  sums  of 
money  and  other  spoils  in  a  space  so  small  and  easily 
dominated  as  in  cities.  City  party  goverimient  which 
enforced  party  tests  of  opinion  for  all  offices  and 
places  in  the  city  service  was,  therefore,  quickly  ex- 
tended to  every  city  and  village  equally  without  con- 
sideration of  its  fitness  and  without  resistance.  The 
true  municipal  reformer,— the  civil  service  reformer, 
—or  any  body  of  independent  enlightened  thinkers  on 
the  subject,  had  not  appeared.  If  some  managers 
in  cities  could  see  that  their  party  system  had  no  fit 
place  in  city  afl:"airs  it  was  too  much  to  expect  that 
they  would  advance  a  theory  to  that  effect,  for  it 
would  not  only  defeat  their  own  advancement  in  their 
party,  but  if  accepted  would  deprive  it  of  a  large  part 
of  its  power  and  patronage." 

But  the  political  party  has  sought  the  control  of  the 
cities  not  merely  because  it  could  through  this  con- 
trol strengthen  its  own  organization.  It  has  sought 
to  control  the  cities  also  because,  under  our  decentral- 
ized system  of  administration,  it  must  have  control  of 
the  city  in  order  to  secure  the  application  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  it  represented.  Attention  has  often  been 
called  to  the  fact  that  the  American  city  is  an  agent 
'See  p.  10. 
«  81 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATfcliS 


of  the  state  government.  Attention  must  also  be 
called  to  the  fact  that  owing  to  our  decentralized  ad- 
ministrative system  the  state  government  has  in  the 
past  had  no  effective  control  over  its  agent.^  A 
means  of  effective  control  not  being  present  in  the 
government,  that  control  had  to  be  found  outside 
the  government.  It  was  found  in  the  political  par- 
ties. State  political  parties  formed  for  the  purpose 
of  carrying  through  some  program  are  of  necessity 
bound  to  interest  themselves  in  municipal  politics, 
for  the  cities  have  under  our  system  almost  free  hand 
in  enforcing  state  statutes.  A  prohibition  party,  for 
example,  which  has  succeeded  in  placing  upon  the 
statute  book  a  law  prohibiting  the  sale  of  liquor 
would  fail  in  its  duty  if  it  did  not  strive  to  secure 
control  of  the  government  of  a  city  which  had  in 
its  hands,  not  subject  to  an  effective  state  control, 
the  management  of  the  police  which  was  to  enforce 
such  prohibition  laws.  The  state  parties,  therefore,  in 
busying  themselves  with  city  politics  have  been  in 
many  instances  merely  discharging  the  functions 
which  were  theirs  of  right. 

In  many  cases  this  extra-legal  control  through  the 
party  is  as  ineffective  as  is  the  legal  control  of  the 
legislature.  Thus  the  attempt  of  one  of  the  parties  in 
the  State  of  New  York  to  close  the  saloons  on  Sunday 
in  the  city  of  New  York  is  productive  of  no  greater 
results  than  the  action  of  the  legislature  in  putting  a 
Sunday-closing  law  on  the  statute  book. 

It  is  true,  of  course,  that  some  of  the  causes  of  the 
interference  of  political  parties  in  municipal  affairs 
are  permanent  and  enduring.   For,  as  has  been  said, 
'  See  infra,  p.  99. 
82 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CITY 


to  quote  Mr.  Ford  again/  "the  interdependence  of 
political  interests  is  such  that  local  transactions  can- 
not be  separated  from  state  and  national  concerns. 
If  the  party  is  hurt  anywhere  it  feels  it  everywhere. 
Means  of  adjustment  between  local  and  general  po- 
litical interests  have  thus  been  secured  which  have 
gradually  effected  a  hierarchy  of  political  control  with 
respective  rights  and  privileges  that  are  tenaciously 
insisted  upon." 

The  interference  of  political  parties  in  municipal 
government  has  been,  however,  unnecessarily  encour- 
aged by  the  position  which  has  been  accorded  to  the 
city  in  our  political  system.  The  absolute  subjection 
of  the  city  to  the  legislature  and  the  fact  that  the  city 
has  been  treated  by  the  courts  as  an  authority  of 
enumerated  powers  which  were  to  be  strictly  con- 
strued, have  offered  to  the  political  parties  the  oppor- 
tunity to  fix  the  organization  of  cities  and  regulate  the 
exercise  of  their  powers  in  the  way  which  best  suited 
the  desires  of  the  party.  For  the  political  parties  have 
controlled  the  legislature.  Beginning  with  about 
1850,  when  the  questions  of  national  unity  and  slavery 
were  pressing  for  solution,  the  political  parties  began, 
through  their  power  in  the  legislature,  to  rearrange 
the  municipal  organization  so  that  it  might  be  most 
subservient  to  them.  No  system  of  government  was 
ever  devised  better  suited  to  force  the  municipal  voter 
to  act  with  his  state  or  national  political  party  in  mu- 
nicipal elections  than  that  unconcentrated  board  sys- 
tem which  has  been  described,  combined  with  numer- 
ous elected  officers  and  frequent  elections. 

In  many  instances  the  parties  went  further  than 
'  See  op.  ext.,  p.  301. 

83  I 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


providing  a  municipal  organization  which  suited  their 
purposes.  They  deliberately  reorganized  particular 
branches  of  the  administration  of  a  single  city  so  as 
to  reap  from  such  reorganizations  the  greatest  parti- 
zan  advantage.  Dr.  Fairlie  cites  an  example  of  such 
behavior  in  the  history  of  the  State  of  Illinois  and  the 
city  of  Chicago.  He  says:  i  "In  1861  the  Republicans 
controlled  the  state  government  and  the  new  board 
of  police  appointed  by  the  governor  was,  in  eon.se- 
quence,  composed  of  Republicans.  In  1863  the  Demo- 
crats gained  control  of  the  state  and  passed  an  act 
reducing  the  term  of  the  police  commissioners  from 
six  to  three  years  by  which  action  the  board  became 
evenly  divided  between  the  two  parties  while  the 
Democrats  hoped  ultimately  to  obtain  complete  con- 
trol. But  in  1865  the  Republicans  were  again  in 
power  in  the  state,  city,  and  county,  and  new  acts 
were  passed  restoring  the  six-year  term  to  the  police 
commissioners,  providing  that  new  commissioners 
should  be  elected  by  the  voters  of  Cook  County — 
which  was  less  liable  to  become  Democratic  than  the 
city— and  placing  the  fire  department  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  board  of  police." 

The  result  of  such  action  upon  the  part  of  the  po- 
litical parties  has  been  that  it  is  impossible  to  secure 
a  scientific  solution  of  the  problems  of  municipal  or- 
ganization. No  one  who  studies  that  vexed  subject 
can  help  thinking  time  and  time  again  that  the  pecu- 
liar institutions  which  may  have  been  or  are  now 
possessed  by  some  particular  city  are  to  be  explained, 
not  upon  any  theory  of  municipal  government,  but 
*  "  A  Municipal  Program, ' '  p.  22. 

84 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CITY 


by  the  temporary  exigencies  of  the  political  parties  in 
control  of  the  state  legislature. 

The  political  parties  have  not  confined  their  atten- 
tion, however,  to  municipal  organization.  They  have 
made  use  of  their  power  in  the  state  legislature  as 
well  to  regulate  the  use  by  the  city  of  its  powers  in 
such  a  way  that  the  party  or  members  of  the  party 
might  derive  advantage  therefrom.  The  legislature 
under  the  control  of  the  state  parties  has  often  deter- 
mined what  salaries  the  cities  should  pay  their  offi- 
cers. It  has  forced  the  cities  in  many  instances  into 
expensive  undertakings  into  which  they  would  not 
have  entered  had  it  not  been  for  the  compulsion  of 
the  legislature.  The  Philadelphia  City  Hall  building 
affords  a  good  example  of  how  far  the  legislature  un- 
der the  dominion  of  the  political  parties  has  been 
willing  to  exercise  its  powers  over  cities.  "In  1870 
the  legislature  decided  that  the  city  should  have  new 
buildings.  The  act  [which  was  passed  to  accomplish 
this  result]  selected  certain  citizens  by  name  whom  it 
appointed  commissioners  for  the  erection  of  the  build- 
ings. It  made  this  body  perpetual  by  authorizing  it 
to  fill  vacancies.  .  .  .  This  commission  was  imposed  by 
the  legislature  lapon  the  city  and  given  absolute  con- 
trol to  create  debts  for  the  purpose  named  and  to  re- 
quire the  levy  of  taxes  for  their  payment. "The 
public  buildings  at  Broad  and  Market  streets"  were, 
iu  the  words  of  Judge  Paxson,^  "projected  upon  a 
scale  of  magnificence  better  suited  for  the  capital  of 
an  empire  than  the  municipal  buildings  of  a  debt- 

'  Dillon,  ' '  Municipal  Corporations, ' '  4tli  ed.,  Vol.  I,  p.  128. 
'  Perkins  v.  Slack,  86  Penn.,  State,  283. 

85 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


burdened  city."  The  city  was  compelled,  however,  to 
supply  the  necessary  funds  and  "for  nearly  twenty 
years  all  the  money  that  could  be  spared  from  imme- 
diate and  pressing  needs"  was  "compulsorily  ex- 
pended upon  an  enormous  pile  which  rivals  the  town 
halls  and  cathedrals  of  the  middle  ages  in  extent  if 
not  in  grandeur."  ^ 

Special  acts  have  been  passed  also  to  force  the  pay- 
ment of  claims  not  capable  of  enforcement  in  the 
courts,  but  held  by  persons  possessed  of  political  in- 
fluence. The  remarks  of  Mr.  Justice  0  'Brien  ^  are  in- 
dicative of  the  extent  to  which  this  practice  has  been 
carried.  He  says :  "  It  will  be  diflScult  to  cite  a  more 
flagrant  instance  than  the  one  here  existing  of  a  legis- 
lative act,  attempting  to  fasten  on  property  owners  a 
burden  which  the  courts  and  local  authorities  have 
stamped  as  fraudulent  and  void.  After  defeat  in  the 
courts  the  legislature  was  successfully  applied  to  and 
a  mandatory  act  passed  which  compelled  the  local  au- 
thorities to  assess  as  part  of  the  cost  work  done  under 
a  contract  which  was  fraudulent  in  its  inception,  was 
never  complied  with  and  was  finally  abandoned." 

The  exercise  by  the  state  legislature  of  the  vast 
power  over  cities  which  it  has  possessed,  has  resulted 
thus  not  only  in  destroying  all  vital  local  self-govern- 
ment, but  as  well  in  debauching  and  corrupting  the 
government  of  cities.  For  the  misuse  of  their  powers 
by  city  officers,  which  it  has  encouraged  and  even  en- 
forced, could  not  fail  to  lower  the  tone  of  city  govern- 
ment.   People  cannot  distinguish  between  the  sacri- 

'  Hare,  "American  Constitutional  Law,"  VoL  I,  p.  630. 

^  In  the  matter  of  Cullen,  53  Hun.,  534. 

86 


THE  POSITION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CITY 


fice  of  municipal  interests  for  laudable  purposes,  and 
their  sacrifice  for  improper  purposes. 

The  main  cause  of  the  evil  conditions  of  American 
cities,  which  have  caused  such  marked  dissatisfaction 
during  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years,  is  to  be  found, 
then,  in  the  conduct  of  the  state  and  national  political 
parties  toward  the  cities.  The  conduct  of  these  par- 
ties has  been  made  possible  largely  because  of  the  posi- 
tion which  the  city  has  occupied  in  our  political  sys- 
tem. It  naturally  follows  that  this  position  is  not  the 
proper  one.  It  is  further  not  the  position  which  has 
been  accorded  to  the  European  city.  We  have  ac- 
corded to  the  city  the  position  which  was  accorded 
to  the  European  city  as  a  result  of  the  development 
of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  We  have 
not  made  the  modifications  in  that  position  which  were 
introduced  by  the  European  practice  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  In  other  words,  we  have  recognized 
that  the  existence  of  the  national  state  is  dependent 
upon  the  theoretical  subjection  of  the  city  to  the  state. 
We  have  not  recognized,  however,  as  a  matter  of  either 
law  or  practice,  that  the  city  has  any  rights  which  the 
state  is  bound  to  respect.  We  have  given  the  city  a 
position  as  an  agent  of  the  state  government  and  have 
subjected  it  as  such  agent  to  state  control.  We  have 
not  accorded  to  it  a  position  as  an  organization  for  the 
satisfaction  of  local  needs,  and  as  such  recognized  it 
as  entitled  to  large  freedom  of  action. 

While  we  have  not  thus  accorded  to  the  city  the 
position  which  it  should  occupy  if  municipal  gov- 
ernment is  to  be  successful,  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  no  attempts  have  been  made  to  remedy  the  evil 

87 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


conditions  which  have  been  described.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  first  attempts  of  the  legislature  to  interfere 
with  the  affairs  of  cities  were  met  by  attempts  to 
limit  the  powers  of  the  legislature  by  constitutional 
provision.  Attempts  have  also  been  made  by  legisla- 
tion and  otherwise  to  expel  the  political  party  from 
municipal  politics.  These  attempts  it  will  be  the  pur- 
pose of  the  following  chapter  to  discuss. 


88 


CHAPTER  V 


STATE  CONTROL  OP  CITIES^ 

Necessity  of  State  Control  of  Cities.  The  fact  that  the 
city  is  discharging  many  of  the  functions  which  have 
been  assigned  to  it,  as  an  agent  of  the  state  govern- 
ment, makes  it  absolutely  necessary  that  the  state  shall 
possess  some  control  over  it.  The  state  cannot  with 
due  regard  for  its  safety  permit  municipalities  or 
their  officers  free  hand  in  the  discharge  of  such  func- 
tions. For  if  anything  is  proven  by  English  and 
American  administrative  history  it  is  that  uncon- 
trolled local  administration  of  general  matters  leads 
to  great  lack  of  administrative  uniformity  where  uni- 
formity is  necessary,  and  is  often  both  slovenly  and  in- 
efficient. The  most  noted  example  of  this  fact  is  to 
be  found  in  the  administration  of  the  English  Poor 
Law  of  the  seventeenth  century.^  We  have  nearer 
home  an  example  of  the  inefficiency  of  uncontrolled 
local  administration  of  laws  regarded  as  of  general  in- 

'  Authorities :  See  the  same  as  for  the  preceding  chapter ; 
Eaton,  "The  Government  of  Municipalities;"  "A  Municipal 
Program. ' ' 

'See  Maltbie,  "English  Local  Government  of  To-day,"  Co- 
lumbia University  Studies,  etc.,  Vol.  IX,  Chap.  ii. 

89 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


terest,  in  the  case  of  the  prohibition  and  other  liquor 
laws  in  the  United  States.* 

The  further  fact  that  matters  which  are  at  one 
time  regarded  as  of  purely  municipal  interest  be- 
come, with  the  course  of  social  development,  of  inter- 
est to  the  state  as  a  whole,  makes  it  necessary  that  the 
state  government  shall  always  have  the  power  of  ex- 
tending its  control  over  such  matters,  although  at  the 
time,  they  be  regarded  as  distinctly  municipal  in  char- 
acter,—matters  as  to  which  the  city  may  not  be  con- 
sidered as  acting  as  an  agent  of  the  state. 

Finally,  the  state  should  have  a  control  over  the 
financial  administration  of  cities.  For  the  carrying 
on  of  that  administration  necessitates  the  exercise  of 
the  taxing  and  borrowing  powers.  No  argument  is 
needed  to  prove  the  necessity  of  the  existence  of  state 
control  over  the  taxing  power.  What  is  true  of  the 
taxing  power  is,  however,  just  as  true,  though  not  so 
apparent,  in  the  case  of  the  power  to  borrow  money. 
For  the  main  means  by  which  the  payment  of  debts  is 
provided  is  the  exercise  of  the  taxing  power.  For 
these  reasons  there  must  be  provided  in  the  govern- 
mental system  a  state  control  over  the  actions  of  cities. 

But,  while  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  state  it  is 
necessary  that  this  control  be  a  broad  one,  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  city,  this  control  should  not  be  ex- 
ercised, except  where  the  interests  of  the  state  as  a 
whole  are  directly  concerned.  Our  glance  at  the  his- 
tory of  municipal  development  has  shown  us  that  a  too 

*  See  Sites,  ' '  Centralized  Administration  of  Liquor  Laws  in 
the  American  Commonwealths, ' '  Columbia  University  Studies, 
etc.,  Vol.  X,  p.  345. 

90 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  CITIES 


extended  exercise  of  the  state  control  over  cities  pre- 
vents the  development  in  the  municipality  of  that  local 
life  whose  existence  is  so  necessary  for  the  proper  occu- 
pation of  that  great  field  of  municipal  activity  opened 
to  the  modern  municipality  by  the  social  development 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  There  is  great  danger 
that  the  city  may  be  hampered  by  the  state  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  powers  which  are  necessary  to  municipal  de- 
velopment. There  is  also  great  danger  that  the  in- 
terests of  the  municipality  will  be  disregarded  by  the 
state ;  that  the  municipality  will  be  sacrificed  to  the 
state.  In  an  age  in  which  urban  development  has 
attained  the  dimensions  which  it  has  in  the  age  in 
which  we  are  living,  this  would  be  a  serious  matter. 

Constitutional  Limitation  of  Legislative  Power.  Two 

methods  have  been  adopted  to  keep  the  necessary  con- 
trol of  the  state  over  the  city  within  its  proper  limits. 
One,  which  is  characteristic  of  the  United  States,  has 
consisted  in  the  attempt  to  assign  in  the  state  constitu- 
tion a  sphere  of  activity  to  the  city  into  which  the  or- 
gans of  the  state  government  may  not  enter,  and  within 
which  the  municipalities  may  act  free  from  state  con- 
trol. It  consists  in  the  first  place  in  forbidding  the 
state  legislatures  and,  indeed,  the  authorities  of  the 
state  government  as  a  whole,  to  interfere  in  any  way 
with  certain  matters  which  are  intrusted  to  the  muni- 
cipal authorities  or  to  the  municipal  people.  Thus  the 
constitutions  of  a  number  of  the  states  of  the  United 
States  forbid  the  state  appointment  of  officers  who  are 
regarded  as  distinctly  municipal  in  character.  Thus, 
again,  many  constitutions  forbid  the  legislatures  of 

91 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


the  states  to  grant  street  franchises  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  municipal  authorities  having  control  of  the 
streets  concerned.* 

The  most  radical  step  which  has  been  taken  in  this 
direction  has  been  taken  by  the  states  of  Missouri, 
California,  AVashington,  Minnesota,  and  Colorado.^ 
The  constitutions  of  these  states  provide  that  the 
voters  of  certain  cities,  generally  the  largest  cities, 
shall  have  the  right  to  frame  their  own  charters, 
which  shall  be  amended  only  by  the  voters  of  the 
cities  themselves.  The  courts,  when  called  upon  to 
interpret  these  provisions,  have  held  that  they  affect 
only  those  functions  of  city  government  in  the  dis- 
charge of  which  the  cities  are  not  regarded  as  act- 
ing as  agents  of  the  state  government.  Thus  the 
courts  have  held,  as  have  also  the  courts  of  certain 
states  in  interpreting  the  constitutional  provisions 
assuring  to  cities  the  right  to  elect  or  appoint  their 
own  officers,  that  these  constitutional  provisions  do 
not  affect  such  departments  as  the  police  depart- 
ment, education  department,  and  that  department  of 
the  city  having  in  its  hands  the  licensing  of  the  retail 
sale  of  liquor,  since  these  departments  are  not  parts 
of  the  local  government  of  the  city.  These  constitu- 
tional provisions  do  not  therefore  prevent  the  legisla- 
ture from  organizing  certain  city  departments  as  it 

'  For  an  enumeration  of  the  states  whose  constitutions  con- 
tain these  and  similar  provisions,  see  Goodnow,  ' '  Municipal 
Home  Eule, ' '  p.  60. 

^  See  Oberholtzer,  ' '  Home  Rule  for  our  American  Cities, ' ' 
Publications  of  American  Academy  of  Political  Science,  No. 
90. 

92 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  CITIES 


sees  fit,  or  from  providing  for  the  central  appointment 
of  the  officers  in  charge  of  such  departments.  The 
courts  have  thus  taken  a  narrow  view  of  the  sphere  of 
local  government.  They  have  been  obliged  to  take 
this  view  because  of  the  necessity  of  considering  the 
interests  of  the  state  as  a  whole.  They  have  been  un- 
willing to  adopt  a  policy  which  would  result  in  break- 
ing up  the  state  by  releasing  municipalities  from  all 
state  control  over  matters  which  interest  the  state  as  a 
whole.  Had  they  not  taken  the  view  that  they  have 
taken,  had  they  construed  these  constitutional  pro- 
visions as  forbidding  state  regulation  of  police,  edu- 
cation, and  so  on,  they  would  have  destroyed  all  state 
control  over  matters  which  unquestionably  concern 
the  state  as  a  whole  and  not  merely  the  city. 

It  cannot,  therefore,  be  said  that  such  constitutional 
provisions  as  those  under  consideration  have  been 
efi'cctive  in  securing  to  the  cities  freedom  of  action  as 
to  many  matters  which  are  popularly  regarded  as  a 
part  of  municipal  government.  As  to  a  series  of  other 
matters  which  are  not  only  popularly  but  legally  re- 
garded as  matters  of  city  government,  it  must  be 
said,  however,  that  these  constitutional  provisions 
have  been  eminently  successful.  They  have  certainly 
secured  to  the  cities  protected  by  them  a  greater  im- 
munity from  legislative  interference  than  has  been 
secured  by  any  other  device  which  has  been  adopted 
to  diminish  the  control  of  cities  by  the  legislature. 

Prohibition  of  Special  City  Laws.  The  most  common 
method,  however,  which  has  been  adopted  in  the 
United  States  for  limiting  the  control  of  the  legisla- 

93 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


ture  over  the  city  is  to  be  found  in  the  provision  so 
frequently  inserted  in  the  state  constitutions  which 
forbids  the  legislature  to  pass  special  acts  with  regard 
to  the  affairs  of  cities. ^  By  this  method  of  limiting 
the  state  control  over  cities  the  attempt  has  been 
made  to  limit  that  control  by  providing  that  it  shall  be 
exercised  only  in  a  particular  way,  that  is,  through  the 
passage  of  general  and  not  special  acts  by  the  legisla- 
ture. The  exact  degree  in  which  the  power  of  the  leg- 
islature is  limited  by  these  constitutional  provisions 
can  be  determined  only  by  the  determination  of  the 
questions :  what  is  a  special  act  under  the  constitution, 
and  what  are  the  subjects,  that  is,  "the  affairs  of 
cities,"  which  may  not  be  regulated  by  a  special  act? 

Hardly  any  of  the  constitutions  defines  a  special 
act.  The  only  one  which  makes  such  a  definition  is  the 
constitution  of  New  York  which  was  adopted  in  1894. 
This  makes  provision  for  three  classes  of  cities,  and 
then  defines  a  special  act  as  an  act  which  does  not  ap- 
ply to  all  the  cities  of  a  class.  This  constitution,  how- 
ever, differs  from  most  of  the  constitutions  in  that  it 
does  not  absolutely  prohibit  special  legislation,  but 
merely  makes  its  passage  by  the  legislature  difficult.^ 
The  determination  of  what  is  a  special  act  is  by 
most  of  these  constitutions  left  for  the  courts  to  make. 
In  the  exercise  of  their  powers  of  construction  the 
courts  have  held  that  they  are  not  bound  by  the  form 
of  an  act.  They  consider  themselves  at  liberty  to  go 
back  of  an  act  which  is  general  in  form,  and  to  de- 
termine whether  it  is  special  in  its  application.  If 

'  See  Goodnow,  ' '  Municipal  Home  Kule, ' '  Chap.  V. 
'  See  infra,  p.  96. 

94 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  CITIES 


they  consider  it  special  in  its  application  they  do  not 
hesitate  to  declare  it  to  be  unconstitutional.  The 
courts  have  further  generally  recognized  that  it  was 
not  intended  by  these  constitutional  provisions  to 
prevent  the  legislature  from  classifying  cities.  While 
in  some  instances  the  courts  have  insisted  that  the 
classification  to  be  constitutional  must  be  reasonable, 
at  the  same  time  they  have  generally  adopted  the  view 
that  classification  by  population  is  a  reasonable  clas- 
sification. A  reasonable  classification  of  cities  is, 
finally,  constitutional  even  if  it  results  in  the  placing 
temporarily  of  only  one  city  in  a  class.  This  attitude 
of  the  courts  has  resulted  naturally  in  not  preventing 
a  great  deal  of  special  legislation.  So  far  as  that  has 
been  the  case  the  method  of  constitutional  prohibition 
of  special  legislation  has  been  ineffective.  It  would 
not  be  fair  to  say  that  it  has  been  totally  unsuccessful, 
but  in  some  states  at  any  rate,  of  which  Ohio  was 
until  the  very  recent  decisions  of  its  Supreme  Court  a 
marked  example,  special  legislation  with  regard  to 
cities  has  been  pretty  nearly  as  frequent  since  the  pas- 
sage of  the  constitutional  limitation  of  the  legislative 
power  as  before.  The  recent  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Ohio  have,  however,  departed  from  the  usual 
rule  of  law  and  have  taken  the  ground  that  under  the 
constitution  of  the  state,  classification  is  not  permis- 
sible, and  a  uniform  system  of  city  government  is 
necessary. 

The  courts  have  also  been  called  upon  to  determine, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  first  two  classes  of  constitutional 
provisions  which  have  been  mentioned,  what  are 
"local"  or  "municipal  affairs."   As  a  general  thing, 

9"> 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


however,  they  have  laid  more  emphasis  upon  the 
special  character  of  the  act  than  upon  the  nature  of 
the  subjects  with  regard  to  which  special  legislation 
is  prohibited.  The  result  of  their  decisions  is  that 
acts  which  are  held  to  be  special  with  regard  to  any 
matter  attended  to  by  a  city  government,  whether 
from  other  points  of  view  that  matter  may  be  con- 
sidered as  local  or  general  in  nature,  are  absolutely 
prohibited.^ 

It  cannot,  therefore,  be  claimed  that  the  commonly 
adopted  method  of  limiting  the  powers  of  control  of 
the  legislature  over  the  city  in  the  United  States  has 
been  successful.  The  attempts  of  the  people  have 
been  largely  frustrated  by  the  attitude  which  the 
courts  have  assumed  with  regard  to  the  constitutional 
provisions.  We  cannot,  however,  here,  any  more  than 
in  the  ease  of  the  other  constitutional  provisions  re- 
ferred to,  blame  the  courts  for  the  attitude  which  they 
have  taken.  In  the  first  place,  local  development  in- 
volves a  large  amount  of  special  legislation  under 
any  scheme  of  enumerated  local  powers.  The  mere 
prohibition  of  such  special  legislation  will  not,  of 
course,  result  in  making  it  unnecessary.  In  the  second 
place,  the  control  of  the  legislature  was  the  only  state 
control  which  existed  in  our  general  administrative 
system.  If  the  courts,  therefore,  should  construe  the 
constitutional  provisions  as  destroying  this  control, 
there  would  be  great  danger  of  an  entire  disintegra- 
tion of  the  state  government. 

A  word  should,  perhaps,  be  said  in  regard  to  the 

'  For  a  fuller  treatment  of  this  subject,  see  Goodnow, 
"Municipal  Home  Eule, "  p.  77. 

96 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  CITIES 


method  of  limiting  the  power  of  the  legislati;re  over 
cities  provided  by  the  last  constitution  of  the  State  of 
New  York.  This  method  is  based  on  the  idea  of  de- 
fining what  is  a  special  act,  and  of  giving  to  the  city 
affected  by  it  a  suspensive  veto  of  such  act.  This  veto 
may  be  overcome  by  the  legislature  by  repassing  the 
special  act  vetoed.  This  method  has  been  successful 
in  making  impossible  a  good  deal  of  the  most  objec- 
tionable special  legislation ;  it  has  not,  however,  pre- 
vented the  passage  by  the  legislature  of  special  acts 
which  the  party  in  control  of  the  legislature  has  con- 
sidered of  great  importance. 

It  would,  therefore,  seem  as  if  any  method  of  limit- 
ing the  control  of  the  state  over  the  city  which  is 
based  upon  a  constitutional  denial  of  the  power  of  the 
state  government  to  interfere  in  municipal  matters 
were  foredoomed  to  fail.  It  would  seem  that  to  solve 
this  problem  of  state  control  over  municipalities  the 
attempt  should  be  made  so  to  organize  the  control  that 
the  state  authorities  may  be  removed  as  far  as  pos- 
sible from  the  temptation  to  exercise  their  power  of 
control,  but  that  the  existence  of  their  power  should 
not  be  denied. 

Necessity  of  Larger  ]\[unicipal  Powers.    From  what 

has  been  said,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  main  causes  of 
the  impi'oper  extension  of  the  control  of  the  state  over 
the  cities  in  the  United  States  have  been  the  narrow 
powers  which  the  city  has  possessed,  and  the  rule  of 
strict  construction  of  its  powers  which  has  been 
adopted  by  the  courts.  We  may  conclude,  then,  if  we 
may  judge  from  American  experience,  that  the  most 
'  97 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


eifective  way  of  diminishing  the  actual  exercise  of 
the  state  control  over  the  cities  without  denying  its 
existence  is  for  the  legislature  to  abandon  the  enu- 
meration of  the  powers  of  municipal  corporations  and 
to  adopt  the  method  of  general  grants  of  power  to 
them.  The  state  in  the  United  States  where  the  pro- 
hibition of  special  legislation  has  been  worked  out 
most  successfully  is  perhaps  the  State  of  Illinois. 
The  legislature  of  the  state,  in  the  municipal  corpora- 
tions act  of  1872,  passed  by  it  to  comply  with  the 
provisions  of  the  state  constitution,  abandoned  the 
ordinary  method  of  a  narrow  detailed  enumeration 
of  the  powers  of  municipal  corporations  and  granted 
to  the  bodies  to  be  organized  under  the  act  much 
wider  powers  than  have  been  granted  by  almost  any 
other  general  municipal  corporations  act  in  the 
United  States.  The  result  has  been  that  in  Illinois 
special  legislation,  while  not  a  thing  of  the  past,  has 
diminished  very  greatly  in  volume.  In  Ohio,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  general  municipal  corporations  act  was 
passed  somewhat  earlier,  which  descended  into  the 
most  minute  details  and  granted  very  narrow  powers. 
The  result  was  the  passage  by  the  legislature  of  a 
great  deal  of  special  legislation,  immediately  after  the 
adoption  of  the  constitutional  provision  prohibiting  it 
•  from  passing  such  legislation.  This  legislation  was 
not,  however,  for  a  long  time  regarded  as  special  by 
the  courts.  European  experience  also  goes  to  prove 
that  the  interests  of  both  the  city  and  the  state  would 
be  subserved  by  the  grant  to  the  cities  of  large  powers 
of  local  government.  The  grant  to  cities  of  large 
powers  of  local  government  need  not  result  in  any 

98 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  CITIES 


state  disintegration  if  provision  is  made  in  other  ways 
for  the  exercise  of  the  state  control  over  cities  which 
we  have  seen  must  be  provided  for.^ 

Ineffectiveness  of  Legislative  Control.  The  control  of 
the  state  legislature  over  cities,  as  it  is  exemplified  in 
the  United  States,  has  finally  shown  itself  to  be  in- 
effective even  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  interests 
of  the  state  itself.  Its  ineffectiveness  has  been  par- 
ticularly marked  in  the  financial  administration.  The 
usual  rule  of  law  in  the  United  States  is  that  cities 
may  not  issue  negotiable  bonds  without  express  leg- 
islative authorization.  Cities  may  not,  therefore,  be- 
come indebted  to  any  important  degree  without  the 
permission  of  the  state  legislature.  The  whole  matter 
of  municipal  indebtedness  is  entirely  within  the  con- 
trol of  the  legislature.  But  the  legislature  has  so 
exercised,  or  rather  so  failed  to  exercise,  its  powers 
of  control  that  the  people  have  had  to  step  in  and 
themselves  fix  the  limit  beyond  which  the  legislature 
may  not  permit  the  cities  to  become  indebted.  Almost 
every  one  of  the  constitutions  of  the  states  of  the 
United  States  contains  provisions  which  limit  the 
debt-making  capacity  of  the  cities  within  the  state. 

The  ineffectiveness  of  the  legislative  control  is  seen 
also  in  other  directions.  Thus  the  attempt  of  the  leg- 
islature to  control  the  action  of  cities  in  the  regulation 
of  the  sale  of  liquor  has  been  almost  universally  un- 
successful. Where  prohibition  laws  have  been  passed 
by  the  legislature  it  is  a  notorious  fact  that  the  cities 

'  See,  on  this  general  subject,  ' '  A  Municipal  Program, ' ' 

passim. 

99 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


in  the  state  quite  commonly  neglect  to  enforce  them. 
Where  the  legislature  of  the  state  has  attempted  to 
prohibit  the  sale  of  liquor  in  the  cities  on  Sunday,  the 
attitude  of  the  cities  is  often  the  same. 

Sometimes  the  failure  of  the  legislative  control  has 
been  followed  by  the  same  action  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  the  state  as  in  the  case  of  municipal  debts ; 
that  is,  a  prohibition  has  been  inserted  into  the  con- 
stitution. In  the  case  of  municipal  indebtedness  such 
a  limitation  of  the  power  of  the  legislature  has  been 
successful.  In  the  case  of  liquor  laws  it  has  been  un- 
successful. The  reason  is  obvious.  In  one  case  the 
prohibition  needs  no  further  action  for  its  enforce- 
ment. Any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  city  or  state 
legislature  to  increase  the  city  debt  beyond  the  con- 
stitutional limit  can  be  declared  invalid  by  the 
courts.  In  the  ease  of  liquor  laws  the  prohibition 
needs  positive  action  on  the  part  of  cities  in  order 
that  it  be  effective.  While  the  courts  can  prevent  posi- 
tive action  they  are  not  always  in  a  position  to  enforce 
such  action.  Other  cases— in  the  field  of  education, 
of  public  sanitation,  public  charities  and  correction 
—might  be  mentioned  where  the  legislative  control 
over  cities  has  been  just  as  ineffective  in  securing  the 
enforcement  of  the  law  as  in  the  case  of  liquor  legis- 
lation. Thus  in  the  State  of  New  York  the  legislature 
attempted  in  1850  to  establish  a  general  system  of 
local  boards  of  health.  But,  although  the  acts  passed 
"were  mandatory  in  form,  there  being  no  authority  to 
enforce  them,  but  few  local  boards  were  established."^ 

^Fairlie,  "The  Centralization  of  Administration  in  New 
York,"  p.  130. 

100 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  CITIES 


Central  Administrative  Control.     The  failure  of  the 

legislative  control  in  securing  from  the  cities  the  posi- 
tive action  necessary  to  the  enforcement  of  law  was 
so  marked  in  the  case  of  prohibition  laws  that  the 
states  in  some  cases  abandoned  the  legislative  control 
and  attempted  to  secure  the  desired  results  by  taking 
from  the  cities  the  power  to  enforce  the  law,  or  by  sub- 
jecting its  enforcement,  when  left  in  the  hands  of  the 
city,  to  the  supervision  of  state  administrative  au- 
thorities. The  movement  so  characteristic  of  the 
middle  of  the  last  century — a  movement  whose  influ- 
ence may  still  be  felt— in  the  direction  of  state  police 
in  cities  was  largely  due  to  the  failure  of  the  cities  to 
enforce  liquor  legislation. ^  A  belief  that  the  cities 
had  failed  to  enforce  state  election  laws  has  also  been 
partly,  at  any  rate,  responsible  for  the  appointment 
by  the  state  of  officers  in  cities  for  the  administration 
of  the  election  laws.  This  has  been  done  for  example 
in  the  city  of  New  York. 

There  are  also  cases  where  the  state  has  not  taken 
into  its  own  hands  the  management  of  matters  at  one 
time  in  charge  of  the  city,  but  has  subjected  them  to  a 
state  control.  Thus  in  the  State  of  New  York  the 
management  of  the  civil-service  laws  by  cities  is  sub- 
jected to  the  control  of  a  state  civil-service  commission. 
In  a  few  states,  such  as  Ohio,  the  finances  of  the  cities 
have  been  subjected  to  a  similar  state  control.^  In 
a  large  number  of  states  the  management  by  cities 
of  schools  and  charitable  and  correctional  institutions 

'  See  Sites,  op.  cit. 

'  See  Orth,  ' '  The  Centralization  of  Administration  in  Ohio, ' ' 
Columbia  University  Studies,  etc.,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  470. 

101 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


must  be  conducted  in  accordance  with  rules  laid  down 
by  central  state  authorities,  such  as  state  school  boards 
and  boards  of  charities  and  state  superintendents  of 
schools,  who  also  have  rights  of  inspection  and  super- 
vision of  the  actions  of  city  ofificers.^ 

If  we  take  this  movement  in  the  direction  of  ad- 
ministrative centralization  together  with  the  constitu- 
tional limitations  of  legislative  power  which  have  been 
described,  we  cannot  fail  to  reach  the  conclusion  that 
the  state  control  over  the  local  corporations  in  the 
United  States  is  being  changed  from  a  legislative  to 
an  administrative  control.  That  such  a  change  will 
be  a  beneficial  one  cannot  be  doubted.  If  we  are  to 
judge  by  the  conditions  of  European  municipalities, 
where  the  control  of  the  state  is  almost  entirely  ad- 
ministrative in  character,  we  must  admit  that,  as  com- 
pared with  the  legislative  control  to  be  found  in  the 
United  States,  the  administrative  control  offers  to  the 
cities  opportunities  for  self-development  as  organs  for 
the  satisfaction  of  local  needs,  of  which  they  are  de- 
prived under  a  system  of  legislative  control,  and  at  the 
same  time  provides,  for  matters  of  interest  to  the  state 
as  a  whole,  a  means  of  control  far  more  effective  than 
the  legislative  control.  The  cities  of  Europe  at  the 
present  time  do  much  more  than  do  American  cities 
for  the  benefit  of  the  local  inhabitants,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  are  prevented  from  neglecting  to  enforce 
state  laws,  the  enforcement  of  which  is  intrusted  to 
them.^ 

^  See  infra,  Chaps,  x  and  xi. 

-  One  cannot  read  the  interesting  and  instructive  description 
of  municipal  life  contained  in  Dr.  Shaw 's  books  on  ' '  Muni- 

102 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  CITIES 


Control  of  Political  Parties.  The  subject  of  the  state 
control  over  cities  may  not  be  dismissed  without  a 
consideration  of  the  etfect  it  has  on  the  attitude  of 
the  political  parties.  For  a  control  actually  exercised 
by  the  state  political  parties  over  the  city  government, 
while  not  legally  a  state  control,  so  long  as  the  parties 
are  not  organs  of  the  state  government,  is  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  real  political  system  a  state  con- 
trol. For  it  is  unquestionably  a  control,  and  it  is 
exercised  in  the  interest  of  the  state  and  national 
political  parties,  and,  therefore,  in  the  interest  of  the 
state  and  nation. 

It  is  surprising  in  view  of  the  extent  of  this  party 
control  over  cities  that  its  exercise  was  for  so  long  a 
time  unperceived.  It  is  only  within  comparatively  re- 
cent times  that  the  urban  populations  of  the  United 
States  have  become  really  aware  of  the  fact  that  their 
interests  were  being  sacrificed  by  the  state  and  na- 
tional parties  to  the  interests  of  the  state  and  nation. 
One  of  the  first  public  documents  which  called  atten- 
tion to  the  evils  resulting  from  the  interference  of 
state  political  parties  in  municipal  government  was  the 
report  which  was  drawn  up  by  the  commissioners  ap- 
pointed in  the  State  of  New  York  in  1876  to  devise 
a  plan  for  the  government  of  cities  in  the  State  of 
.New  York.  Here  it  is  said,  "it  is  then  through  the 
agency  of  the  great  political  parties  .  .  .  that  all  mu- 

cipal  Government  in  Great  Britain, ' '  and  ' '  Municipal  Govern- 
ment in  Continental  Europe,"  without  feeling  that  the  large 
sphere  of  home  rule  of  the  European  cities  is  very  largely  re- 
sponsible for  their  great  activity  in  so  many  directions  that 
have  not  been  entered  upon  by  the  cities  of  the  United  States. 

103 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


nicipal  officers  are  and  have  long  been  selected.  It 
can  scarcely  be  a  matter  of  wonder  then  that  the 
present  condition  of  municipal  affairs  should  pre- 
sent an  aspect  so  desperate." 

The  remarks  of  this  commission,  however,  excited 
little  comment  and  were  followed  by  less  results.  But 
about  1880  the  cry  of  non-partizanship  in  municipal 
elections  began  to  be  raised  and  is  now  heard  through- 
out the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  The  wonder 
is  not  that  this  cry  is  raised,  but  that  it  was  so  long 
before  it  was  raised.  For  no  country  which  has  at- 
tained any  degree  of  urban  development  can  tolerate 
conditions  which  result  in  a  complete  and  permanent 
sacrifice  of  the  interests  of  its  urban  population.  The 
conditions  of  the  middle  ages  will  be  repeated.  Then, 
the  struggle  on  the  part  of  the  cities  was  for  commer- 
cial and  industrial  freedom ;  in  this  age,  it  will  be  for 
political  freedom. 

How  now  shall  we  attempt  to  limit  this  extra  legal 
control  of  parties  over  city  government  ?  "We  cannot 
legislate  them  out  of  the  field.  But  while  we  can  do 
nothing  by  legislation  positively  to  expel  the  state 
parties  from  city  government,  we  can  do  much  by  leg- 
islation to  diminish  the  attractiveness  to  parties  of 
city  government.  Attention  has  already  been  called 
to  the  fact  that  the  attitude  of  the  political  parties 
toward  city  government  results  largely  from  the  posi- 
tion of  the  city.  It  has  been  suggested  that  a  change 
in  the  position  of  the  city  would  result  in  a  change  in 
the  attitude  of  the  party.  This  is  so  not  merely  so  far 
as  concerns  the  measures  relative  to  cities  passed  in 
the  legislature  by  the  party  in  control  of  the  legisla- 
ture.   It  is  so  also  so  far  as  concerns  the  behavior 

104 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  CITIES 


of  the  party  organization  outside  of  the  legislature. 
If  our  state  control  over  cities  is  an  effective  one  the 
state  party  is  not  of  necessity  forced  to  busy  itself 
with  municipal  politics.  Thus,  if  a  state  prohibition 
party  by  getting  control  of  the  state  government  can 
insure  the  enforcement  of  a  state  liquor  law  because 
of  the  fact  that  the  state  government  has  an  effective 
control  over  the  actions  of  cities,  such  party  is  not 
obliged  to  try  to  get  control  of  the  city  government 
as  it  would  be  were  the  city  not  subject  to  an  effective 
state  control.  What  is  true  of  liquor  legislation  is 
true  in  the  same  way  of  any  matter  in  which  a  state, 
party  is  interested. 

The  subjection  of  the  cities  to  an  effective  state 
control  would  thus  remove  one  of  the  motives  which 
state  parties  have  for  interfering  with  city  govern- 
ment. It  would  not,  of  course,  remove  all  such  mo- 
tives, but  it  would  unquestionably  make  it  easier  for 
the  members  of  the  party,  who  in  the  end  of  course 
determine  party  action,  to  consider  the  needs  of  the 
city  apart  from  the  needs  of  the  party,  which  they 
naturally  believe  to  be  identical  with  the  needs  of  the 
state  and  nation.  Indeed,  all  that  we  can  hope  to  ac- 
complish, in  diminishing  the  extra-legal  control  of  the 
state  parties  over  city  government,  is  to  make  it  easier 
for  the  citizen,  who  is  both  party  member  and  muni- 
cipal voter,  to  consider  city  questions  as  having  an 
importance  in  and  of  themselves  irrespective  of  their 
effect  on  the  state  party  to  which  he  belongs. 

Separate  City  Elections.    The  change  in  the  position 

of  the  city  which  is  gradually  being  made  in  our  law, 
and  the  substitution  of  the  new  administrative  for  the 

105 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


old  legislative  control  are,  however,  not  the  only  ways 
in  which  this  can  be  done.  The  attempt  has  already 
been  made  to  separate  municipal  from  state  elections 
in  point  of  time.  Originally  municipal  elections  were 
commonly  held  in  the  spring,  as  they  are  now  in  a 
few  of  the  large  cities  and  in  quite  a  number  of  the 
small  cities,  while  state  and  national  elections  were 
held,  as  now,  in  the  autumn.  But  in  the  case  of  the 
large  cities,  of  which  New  York  is  an  example,  the 
time  of  city  and  state  elections  was  made  the  same 
because,  as  it  was  alleged,  it  was  difficult  to  rouse  suf- 
ficient interest  in  a  spring  election  to  get  out  a  repre- 
sentative vote.  It  may  well  be,  however,  that  the 
change  was  made  at  the  behest  of  the  parties,  which 
felt  that  with  the  two  elections  at  the  same  time  they 
stood  a  better  chance  to  get  control  of  the  city  govern- 
ment because  state  and  city  issues  would  be  confused. 

The  New  York  commission  appointed  in  1876  to  in- 
vestigate municipal  government  in  that  state,  sug- 
gested in  its  report  that  state  and  city  elections  be 
separated.  Nothing  was  done  about  the  matter  in 
New  York,  however,  until  1894,  when,  by  the  consti- 
tution adopted  in  that  year,  it  was  provided  that  the 
city  elections  should  take  place  in  the  odd  years  and 
state  elections  in  the  even  years.^  This  plan  has 
the  advantage  of  not  requiring  two  elections  in  the 
same  year,  and  at  the  same  time  of  separating  state 
and  city  elections.  It  has  been  quite  successful. 
Since  its  adoption  it  has  been  possible,  as  it  never  was 

^  The  only  important  exception  to  this  general  rule  is  that 
the  elections  of  state  assemblymen  take  place  annually,  and 
thus  at  the  same  time  as  the  city  elections. 

lOG 


STATE  CONTROL  OF  CITIES 


before,  for  the  municipal  voter  to  leave  his  state  party 
and  give  his  vote  at  the  city  elections  for  the  organi- 
zation which  he  believes  most  likely  to  regard  city 
interests  from  the  city  point  of  view.  National  and 
state  political  parties  have  not  by  any  means  been 
driven  out  of  municipal  politics,  but  the  independent 
vote  in  city  matters  has  been  greatly  increased.  The 
idea  which  lies  at  the  base  of  the  election  provision  of 
the  New  York  constitution  has  been  also  made  the 
foundation  of  the  present  New  York  primary  law.  It 
is  provided  in  this  law  that  a  person's  actions  in  mu- 
nicipal politics  shall  not  affect  his  standing  in  his  state 
party.  In  Massachusetts  the  attempt  has  been  made 
in  some  of  the  cities  such  as  Boston  to  separate  the 
city  from  the  state  and  national  elections  by  provid- 
ing that  the  city  election  shall  take  place  one  month 
after  the  state  election.  While  this  method  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  followed  by  the  same  success  as  has 
followed  the  New  York  method,  at  the  same  time  quite 
an  important  change  in  the  vote  may  often  be  noticed. 
A  Republican  majority,  for  example,  in  the  state  elec- 
tion may  be  followed  by  a  Democratic  majority  in  the 
municipal  election  a  month  later. 

It  is,  however,  doubtful  whether  anything  more 
can  be  done  by  legislation  than  to  offer  a  greater  op- 
portunity to  the  voter  to  act  independently  of  his 
state  party  in  municipal  matters.  ]\Iost  of  the  work 
that  can  be  done  in  this  line  must  be  done  as  a  result 
of  the  education  of  public  opinion.  As  soon  as  city 
dwellers  become  convinced  that  their  welfare  is  bound 
up  in  the  diminution  of  the  control  of  state  parties  in 
cities,  the  control  of  the  party  will  diminish.  There 

X07 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


is  much  evidence  for  the  belief  that  this  conviction  is 
becoming  stronger  than  it  ever  has  been.  The  recent 
extraordinary  development  of  urban  life  has  brought 
it  about  that  municipal  questions  are  assuming  an  im- 
portance which  they  have  never  had  before,  and  are 
forcing  themselves  upon  public  attention  with  greater 
frequency  and  greater  urgency.  The  cry  for  non- 
partizanship  in  municipal  matters  which  is  every  day 
becoming  more  insistent  is  evidence  of  the  fact  that 
the  voter  is  beginning  to  see  things  in  their  right  pro- 
portions. The  national  and  state  political  parties  will 
have  to  give  heed  to  the  wishes  of  the  urban  popula- 
tion by  the  mere  reason  of  its  voting  strength,  and 
the  people  of  the  cities  will  force  the  state  parties 
either  in  their  local  organizations  to  adopt  local  poli- 
cies, or  to  retire  from  local  politics  and  give  place  to 
municipal  parties.  Municipal  questions  will  thus  se- 
cure a  consideration  apart  from  their  relation  to  the 
state  and  nation,  and  an  opportunity  will  be  afforded 
for  the  expression  and  execution  by  the  local  commu- 
nities of  the  local  will. 


108 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  PARTICIPATION  OP  THE  PEOPLE  IN  CITY 
GOVERNMENT  ^ 

Universal  Suffrage  for  City  Elections.  It  is  proper  to 
assume  that  the  ideal  system  of  city  goverament  is 
that  which  will  permit  of  the  widest  opportunities  for 
the  satisfaction  of  those  needs  that  result  from  the 
presence  of  a  large  population  in  the  municipal  area. 
In  so  far  as  the  city  population  is  intelligent,  and  in 
so  far  as  the  political  ideals  of  the  state  in  which  the 
city  is  situated  are  democratic,  it  is  proper,  further,  to 
assume  that  the  ideal  system  of  city  government  is 
that  which  will  permit  most  easily  of  the  expression 
of  the  will  of  the  municipal  people  and  the  putting 
into  execution  of  that  will  with  regard  to  all  muni- 
cipal matters. 

This  problem  of  the  satisfaction  of  municipal  needs 
and  the  realization  of  the  aspirations  of  the  urban 

•Authorities:  Eaton,  "Government  of  Municipalities;" 
Oberholtzer,  ' '  The  Eef  erendum  in  America ; ' '  Meyer,  ' '  Nomi- 
nating Systems;"  Dallinger,  "Nominations  to  Elective  Office 
in  the  United  States;"  "Detroit  Conference  for  Good  City 
Government,  1903 ; ' '  Tolman,  ' '  Municipal  Eeform  Move- 
ments. ' ' 


109 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


population  must,  however,  be  studied  in  the  light  of 
the  conditions  which  exist  in  urban  communities.  The 
problem  is  distinctly  an  urban  problem.  It  cannot 
satisfactorily  be  solved,  if  solved  at  all,  by  attempting 
to  apply  to  it  principles  which  are  derived  from  a  con- 
sideration of  other  than  urban  conditions.  We  must, 
therefore,  bear  in  mind  in  solving  the  problems  con- 
nected with  the  participation  of  the  people  in  munici- 
pal government  that  we  have  a  social  basis,  for  the 
government  which  we  desire  to  establish,  which  is  un- 
favorable to  the  development  of  good  government.  It 
has  been  shown  that  the  social  qualities  that  are  de- 
veloped by  urban  life  are  not  the  qualities  that  favor 
good  govei-nment.  Our  glance  at  the  history  of  the 
development  of  cities  has  shown  that  the  apparent  ten- 
dency of  all  cities  is  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  an 
oligarchy,  and  that  this  tendency  is  apt  to  be  aggra- 
vated by  the  control  which  is  exercised  over  the  city 
in  the  interest  of  the  state  as  a  whole.  These  facts 
must  be  borne  in  mind  when  we  attempt  to  determine 
the  question  as  to  the  degree  and  manner  of  the  par- 
ticipation of  the  people  in  municipal  government. 

The  first  branch  of  this  subject  to  demand  consid- 
eration is  the  question  as  to  how  general  shall  be  the 
participation  of  the  people  in  the  city  government 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  people  themselves.  As 
the  city  is  a  part  of  the  state  government  this  question 
cannot  be  answered  as  the  result  merely  of  a  consid- 
eration of  the  city  in  isolation.  If  the  general  system 
of  administration  of  the  state  in  which  the  city  is 
situated  is  a  decentralized  one,  one  of  local  self-gov- 
ernment, and,  as  a  result,  cities  are  important  agents 

110 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


of  the  state  government  and  are  not  subject  to  an  ef- 
fective state  control,  it  would  seem  to  be  necessary 
that  the  same  degree  of  participation  in  the  govern- 
ment which  is  accorded  to  the  citizens  of  the  state  for 
state  matters  should  be  accorded  to  the  citizens  of  the 
city  for  city  matters.  If  iiniversal  suffrage  is  under 
such  conditions  the  rule  in  state  elections,  it  should  be 
the  rule  in  the  city  elections.  For  if  the  suffrage  for 
state  and  city  matters  is  different  the  opportunities 
for  conflict  between  the  state  and  city  will  be  in- 
creased in  number. 

If,  however,  the  city  is  not  an  important  agent  of 
state  government,  or  if  it  be  subject  to  an  effective 
state  control,  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  state  and  city 
electorate  be  the  same.  For  either,  as  under  the  first 
supposition,  city  voters  will  elect  officers  whose  powers 
are  merely  local  or  municipal ;  or,  as  under  the  second 
supposition,  the  state,  through  its  control  over  cities, 
may  prevent  the  city  from  so  making  use  of  its  pow- 
ers of  state  agency  as  to  bring  it  into  conflict  with  the 
state.  In  either  case  the  difference  in  the  state  and 
city  electorate  will  not  have  the  effect  of  aggravating 
the  differences  between  the  state  and  the  city. 

Of  course,  it  must  not  be  understood  that  the  mere 
fact  that  the  state  and  city  electorates  are  the  same 
will  absolutely  preclude  the  existence  of  conflict  be- 
tween the  state  and  the  city.  Even  where  the  state 
and  city  electorates  are  the  same,  as,  e.g.,  where  uni- 
versal suffrage  is  adopted  for  both  the  state  and  the 
city,  the  fact  that  the  desires  of  the  citizens  of  the 
state  as  a  whole  may  differ  from  those  of  the  citizens 
of  a  particular  city  will  often  result  in  producing  this 

111 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


conflict.  It  cannot,  however,  be  denied  that  the 
chances  of  this  conflict  are  considerably  increased 
where  the  state  and  city  electorate  are  not  the  same. 

The  United  States  is  a  country  whose  administra- 
tive system,  so  far  as  the  states  of  the  Union  are  con- 
cerned, is  a  decentralized  one.  The  city  in  the  United 
States  is  a  very  important  agent  of  state  government 
and  is  at  the  same  time  not  subject  to  an  effective 
state  control.  The  electorate  of  a  city  in  the  United 
States  should,  therefore,  be  the  same  as  the  electorate 
of  the  state  in  which  the  city  is  situated.  Inasmuch 
as  the  electorate  of  the  states  in  the  United  States  is 
practically  based  on  the  idea  of  universal  suffrage,  we 
must  conclude  that  universal  suffrage  is  the  proper 
basis  of  the  city  electorate  so  long  as  the  city  retains 
the  position  which  is  now  accorded  to  it.  In  the 
United  States,  however,  the  period  of  residence  within 
the  city  required  of  the  municipal  voter  is  as  a  gen- 
eral thing  quite  short.  The  result  is  that  it  is  per- 
fectly possible  for  a  large  vote  to  be  east  in  the  cities 
of  the  United  States  by  a  more  or  less  floating  popu- 
lation which  has  no  real  abiding  interest  in  the  af- 
fairs of  the  municipality  for  whose  officers  they  are 
voting.  How  large  this  floating  population  actually 
is,  and  what  influence  it  has  upon  city  elections  in  the 
United  States,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  But  it  is  at  any 
rate  certain  that  this  period  of  residence  is  often  too 
short,  and  it  would  be  perfectly  proper,  even  while  ac- 
cepting universal  suffrage  for  cities,  to  increase  the 
length  of  the  period  of  residence  necessary  to  vote  at 
city  elections.  For  example,  it  is  usually  the  rule  that 
one  may  vote  at  a  state  election  who  has  resided  for 

112 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


a  year  in  the  state,  a  month  or  two  in  the  county,  and 
a  certain  number  of  days  in  the  election  district  where 
the  vote  is  cast.  This  rule  is  applied  usually  without 
modification  to  elections  for  city  officers.  The  result 
is  that  it  is  perfectly  possible  for  a  citizen  of  the 
state  to  vote  at  a  municipal  election,  although  he  may 
have  been  a  resident  of  the  city  for  not  longer  than 
the  period  required  for  residence  in  the  county  for 
state  elections.  It  would  not  be  violative  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  universal  suffrage  for  cities  to  require  for 
voting  at  city  elections  a  period  of  residence  within 
the  city  equal  in  length  at  least  to  that  within  the 
state  which  is  required  by  the  state  for  state  elections. 
The  adoption  of  such  a  policy  would  not,  under  the 
ordinary  state  constitution  as  interpreted  by  the 
courts,  require  a  constitutional  amendment. 

Elected  or  Appointed  City  Officers.  The  second  prob- 
lem connected  with  the  participation  of  the  people  in 
city  government  is,  How  general  should  this  participa- 
tion be,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  officers  to  be 
elected  by  the  people  ?  In  answering  this  question  we 
must  remember  again  that  we  are  considering  urban 
communities.  We  should  not  apply  to  city  elections 
principles  merely  because  their  application  has  been 
successful  in  other  than  urban  communities.  The 
conditions  existing  in  the  large  centers  of  population 
are  quite  different  from  those  which  exist  in  rural  dis- 
tricts. Owing  to  the  more  permanent  character  of 
the  population  in  rural  districts,  the  feeling  of  neigh- 
borhood is  much  stronger  there  than  in  the  urban 
communities.  The  people,  knowing  personally  most 
«  113 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


of  the  candidates  who  present  themselves  for  office,  are 
in  a  position  to  make  a  wise  choice  of  officers.  In  the 
cities  the  feeling  of  neighborhood  is  not  strong;  peo- 
ple cannot  in  the  nature  of  things  be  acquainted  with 
many  of  the  candidates  who  present  themselves  for 
office  where  many  of  the  officers  are  elected.  It  is 
therefore  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  the  people  in 
cities  to  know  much  about  the  merits  of  any  large 
number  of  candidates. 

In  urban  communities,  further,  offices  are  much 
more  numerous  than  they  are  in  rural  districts,  and  if 
a  great  number  of  offices  are  to  be  filled  by  election, 
many  of  which  are  subordinate  and  comparatively 
unimportant,  even  the  most  intelligent  elector  is  apt 
to  become  confused  and  is  liable  to  rely  upon  the 
party  with  which  he  acts  in  the  state  or  national  is- 
sues, regardless  of  the  fact  that  the  officer  for  whom 
he  may  be  voting  has  no  duties  which  exercise  any 
important  influence  on  the  issues  of  state  and  national 
politics.  The  control  of  the  state  and  national  party 
over  the  city  is  increased  by  providing  numerous  elec- 
tive city  officers. 

Finally,  the  administration  of  an  urban  community 
is  much  more  complex  than  that  of  a  rural  district. 
The  presence  of  a  vast  number  of  people  in  a  small 
area  of  itself  presents  problems  which  require  for 
their  solution  a  large  amount  of  technical  knowledge 
and  skill.  The  rural  highway  becomes  a  city  street 
which  must  not  only  sustain  an  immense  amount  of 
surface  traffic  to  which  the  rural  highway  is  not  sub- 
jected, but  must  also  serve  as  a  means  of  conveying 
under  its  surface  gas,  water,  electricity,  and  sewage. 

114 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


The  care  of  the  public  health  in  rural  districts  is  a 
comparatively  simple  matter.  Unobstructed  light  and 
free  circulation  of  air  may  be  trusted  to  act  as  pre- 
ventives of  mos't  diseases.  In  the  city,  however, 
great  care  must  be  taken  to  prevent  the  breaking  out 
of  disease ;  energetic  measures  must  be  taken  to  stamp 
out  contagious  diseases  because  of  their  greater  liabil- 
ity to  spread  and  because  of  the  rapidity  with  which 
they  spread  if  once  allowed  to  get  a  foothold. 

Not  only  do  branches  of  administration  for  which 
there  is  some  provision  in  rural  districts  become  more 
complicated  in  urban  communities,  but  also  many 
matters  which  in  rural  districts  can  be  left  entirely 
to  private  initiative  become  of  necessity  in  the  cities 
the  subjects  of  governmental  action.  In  attending  to 
some,  the  highest  amount  of  technical  skill  is  re- 
quired ;  in  attending  to  all,  harmony  in  administrative 
action  and  continuity  in  administrative  policy  are  ab- 
solutely indispensable  if  advantageous  results  are  to 
be  expected.  The  elective  method  is  not  the  proper 
one  for  securing  the  necessary  technical  skill.  Evi- 
dence of  technical  skill  does  not  usually  attract  votes. 
The  elective  method  is  not  the  proper  one  to  secure 
that  administrative  harmony  and  continuity  which  it 
has  been  said  are  necessary.  For  the  election  of  many 
officers  who  are  not  subject  to  any  common  con- 
trol, produces  an  unconcentrated  government  in  which 
harmony  is  impossible  of  attainment;  and  the  short 
terms  which  are  usually  connected  with  elective 
offices  are  apt  to  break  the  continuity  of  administra- 
tive policy. 

The  experience  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States 
115 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


goes  far  to  corroborate  the  conclusions  which  are  de- 
rived from  a  theoretical  consideration  of  the  question. 
It  has  been  shown  that  the  earliest  form  of  municipal 
government  which  was  established  in  this  country 
was,  for  some  reason  or  another,  unsatisfactory,  and 
that  changes  were  made  in  the  system  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  nineteenth  century.  One  of  the  changes 
which  were  then  made  was,  it  will  be  remembered,  the 
application  to  urban  communities  of  the  elective  sys- 
tem which  had  worked  so  satisfactorily  in  the  rural 
communities  of  the  country.  One  of  the  reasons  for 
the  change  may  be  found  in  the  abuse  which  was  made 
of  the  appointing  power,  through  the  exercise  of  which 
most  of  the  offices  in  the  cities  were  originally  filled. 
The  conclusion  was  reached  about  the  year  1830  that 
the  method  of  appointment  to  office  was  not  as  good 
a  way  of  filling  offices  as  election  by  the  people.  The 
result  was  that  about  the  middle  of  the  century  the 
elective  principle  was  generally  introduced  into  our 
governmental  system  in  the  cities  as  well  as  in  the 
open  country. 

The  experience  of  the  people  of  our  cities,  soon  after 
the  elective  principle  was  generally  introduced  into 
the  city  organization,  was  not  a  happy  one.  It  led 
them  in  many  cases  to  abandon  the  idea  of  popular 
government  for  cities  and  to  resort  to  an  extreme  cen- 
tralization in  the  hope  that  the  state  government,  un- 
der which  the  larger  cities  were  so  generally  placed, 
might  represent  a  more  enlightened  opinion  than  it 
was  believed  could  be  found  in  the  cities  themselves. 
This  centralization  was  in  some  eases  administrative, 
in  other  cases  it  was  legislative,  "but  in  all  cases  the 

116 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


city  was  deprived  of  many  of  its  rights  of  local  au- 
tonomy. 

The  condition  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States 
under  the  elective  system  was  thus  worse  than  under 
the  appointive  system.  This  seems  to  have  been  al- 
most inevitable.  The  cause  of  the  abuse  of  the  ap- 
pointing power,  which  was  one  of  the  reasons  for  the 
adoption  of  the  elective  system,  was  the  necessity  of 
building  up  the  great  political  parties  which  sprang 
up  in  the  United  States  during  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  need  of  maintaining  these 
parties  was  no  less  after  the  adoption  of  the  elective 
system  than  it  had  been  before.  The  cause  of  the 
trouble  not  having  been  removed,  the  trouble  con- 
tinued. The  parties,  instead  of  making  use  of  the 
appointing  power  as  they  had  done  in  the  past, 
adapted  themselves  to  the  changed  conditions  and 
were  able,  through  their  control  over  city  elections,  to 
perpetuate  and  even  to  aggravate  the  evil  conditions 
which  had  existed  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  elective 
system. 

The  adoption  of  the  elective  system  not  only  failed 
to  remove  the  cause  of  the  evils  from  which  the  cities 
had  suffered.  It  also  showed  itself  absolutely  inappli- 
cable to  the  larger  cities.  It  was  impossible  to  obtain 
the  necessary  technical  skill  under  the  system.  City 
public  works,  for  example,  were  notoriously  worse 
managed  than  similar  works  of  private  corporations. 
Administrative  policy  had  no  continuity  in  cities. 
Conflicts  between  the  various  elective  offices  were  in 
some  cases  so  severe  as  to  result  in  a  complete  govern- 
mental paralysis. 

117 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


The  experience  of  foreign  countries  also  goes  far 
toward  proving  that  it  is  wiser  to  confine  the  power 
of  the  municipal  voter  within  very  narrow  limits.  In 
England,  France,  Germany,  and  Italy  hardly  a  single 
municipal  officer,  who  has  to  do  with  the  technical 
part  of  the  administration,  is  elected  by  the  people  of 
the  cities.  The  participation  of  the  people  in  city 
government  is  confined  to  the  selection  of  a  council,  in 
which  are  vested  almost  all  the  powers  of  government. 
The  various  administrative  officers  in  the  municipal 
organization  are  appointed  directly  or  indirectly  by 
the  city  council. 

The  city  government  of  the  United  States  is,  how- 
ever, at  the  present  time  very  largely  based  upon  the 
idea  that  the  voters  of  the  city  shall  vote  for  many  if 
not  most  of  the  important  municipal  officers.  The 
municipal  code  which  has  been  recently  adopted  in 
the  state  of  Ohio  is  a  good  example  of  the  extent  to 
which  the  elective  principle  is  sometimes  applied.  At 
the  same  time  the  tendency  to  be  seen  in  most  of  the 
later  charters  which  have  been  adopted  is  in  the  di- 
rection of  confining  the  participation  of  the  people 
in  city  government  to  a  vote  for  the  mayor,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  council,  and  perhaps  the  most  important 
financial  officer  of  the  city.  In  so  far  as  this  is  the 
case  we  can  congratulate  ourselves  that  our  faces  are 
turned  in  the  right  direction. 

Referendum  and  Initiative  in  City  Matters.  The 

municipal  voter  may  finally  participate  in  city  gov- 
ernment not  only  by  electing  municipal  officers  but 
also  by  himself  aiding  in  the  determination  of  the 

118 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


policy  of  the  city.  He  may  be  called  upon  to  vote 
directly  upon  propositions  which  are  laid  before  him. 
This  method  of  participating  in  the  city  government 
is  called  the  referendum. 

The  referendum  is,  in  the  case  of  the  American 
town  meeting,  a  very  old  institution.  In  the  town 
meetings  throughout  New  England  the  people  not  only 
elect  the  officers  of  the  town  but  as  well  determine 
what  amounts  of  money  shall,  within  the  limits  of  the 
powers  granted  to  the  town  by  the  state,  be  expended 
upon  the  various  branches  of  town  administration. 
During  the  course  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  referendum  was  extended  to  cities  in  a 
number  of  special  cases.  Thus,  for  example,  it  is 
quite  common  to  find  provisions  in  the  American  state 
constitutions  prohibiting  a  city  or  other  municipal 
corporation  from  contracting  any  debt  or  pledging  its 
faith  or  loaning  its  credit,  except  with  the  approval 
of  the  majority  of  the  city  voters.  In  some  instances 
this  approval  is  necessary  for  the  levy  of  taxes.  A 
similar  referendum  is  often  necessary  for  the  acqui- 
sition or  alienation  of  city  property  by  the  city  au- 
thorities; for  the  determination  of  the  question  whe- 
ther liquor  shall  be  sold  within  the  municipality,  and 
for  the  grant  to  corporations  of  franchises  to  use  the 
streets.^ 

In  other  cases,  while  no  provision  is  made  for  the 
referendum  in  the  state  constitution,  it  is  the  practice 
of  the  legislature  to  submit  special  acts  with  regard 
to  cities  to  the  people  of  the  cities  concerned.  The 

'  See  Oberholtzer,  ' '  The  Kef erendum  in  America, ' '  for  an  ex- 
haustive consideration  of  this  subject. 

119 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


question  of  the  constitutionality  of  this  practice  has 
very  frequently  been  raised,  but  the  tendency  of  the 
courts  at  the  present  day  is  to  recognize  that  it  is  per- 
fectly constitutional  so  long  as  it  is  confined  to  local 
matters. 1 

Finally,  four  states,  namely,  Iowa,  California,  Ne- 
braska, and  South  Dakota,  have  granted  to  the  local 
legislative  authorities  the  right  to  refer  questions  to 
the  people  of  the  various  localities.  In  one  state,  Ne- 
braska, no  ordinance  which  has  been  passed  by  the 
local  legislature  shall  go  into  force  until  thirty  days 
after  its  passage.  "If  within  that  time  a  petition 
signed  by  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  voters  of  the  city  or 
other  local  district  asking  for  a  referendum  on  the 
subject  is  presented  to  the  duly  authorized  officers  it 
must  be  submitted  to  popular  vote  at  a  regular  elec- 
tion. Again,  if  the  number  signing  the  petition  equals 
twenty  per  cent,  of  the  voters  a  special  election  may 
be  called.  Urgent  measures  relating  to  'the  preserva- 
tion of  public  peace  or  health,  however,  are  expressly 
excepted  from  these  provisions. '  "  ^ 

The  grant  of  this  power  of  referendum  to  the  peo- 
ple is  also  accompanied  in  some  instances  by  the  grant 
of  the  initiative.  On  the  petition  of  a  fixed  percent- 
age of  the  people  a  given  ordinance  or  other  legisla- 
tive measure  must  be  submitted  to  them  for  their 
action.  Such  an  initiative  is  provided  by  the  recent 
charter  of  the  city  of  San  Francisco.  This  charter  is 
one  of  the  so-called  "free-holders  charters"  framed 
and  adopted  by  the  people  of  the  city  of  San  Fran- 
cisco in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  state 
^Ibid.,  p.  321.  'Ifetd.,  p.  309. 

120 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


constitution,  guaranteeing  to  them  the  right  to  draw 
up  their  own  charter. 

The  effect  of  the  grant  to  the  people  of  the  referen- 
dum seems  to  be  a  contraction  rather  than  an  exten- 
sion of  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity.  This  is  par- 
ticularly true  where  the  question  of  the  levy  of  a  tax 
is  to  be  determined  by  popular  vote.  In  the  case  of 
the  incurring  of  debts,  however,  the  referendum  is 
said  not  to  have  the  same  effect.  The  people  seem  to 
be  unwilling  to  bear  the  immediate  burden  of  taxation 
no  matter  how  meritorious  may  be  the  object  for 
which  the  tax  is  to  be  levied.  They  are  either  willing 
to  throw  upon  future  generations  the  burden  result- 
ing from  the  incurring  of  indebtedness,  or  they  are 
so  ignorant  as  to  the  amount  of  the  city's  indebted- 
ness that  they  are  unable  to  act  intelligently  when  a 
proposition  to  incur  new  debt  is  submitted  to  them. 
It  cannot  be  said  that  our  experience  with  the  refer- 
endum in  this  country,  outside  of  the  town  govern- 
ments of  New  England,  is  such  as  to  induce  the  belief 
that  a  wider  application  of  the  principle  will  be  ac- 
companied by  great  benefit.^ 

Methods  of  Nomination.  The  purpose  of  giving  to  the 
people  of  cities  the  right  to  elect  their  own  oflScers 
and  to  determine  the  policy  of  the  city  is  to  secure 
the  determination  of  municipal  questions  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  best  interests  of  the  city.    The  city 

'  The  referendum,  however,  would  probably  have  the  effect 
of  diminishing  the  influence  of  party.  See  Lowell,  "Govern- 
ment and  Parties  in  Continental  Europe,"  II,  pp.  313  and 
326. 


121 


CITY  GUVEKJNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATE>5 


in  the  United  States,  however,  as  has  so  often  been 
said,  has  been  in  the  past  very  largely  governed  by  the 
state  and  national  political  parties  which  naturally 
have  at  heart  the  interests  of  the  state  and  nation 
rather  than  those  of  the  city.  Such  being  the  ease, 
the  mere  grant  to  the  municipal  people  of  the  right 
of  electing  city  officers  and  of  determining  in  other 
ways  the  municipal  policy,  is  not  sufficient  to  secure 
the  management  of  city  affairs  in  the  interest  of  the 
welfare  of  the  city.  If  we  desire  to  secure  this  result, 
something  further  must  be  done  in  addition  to  giving 
the  municipal  people  the  right  to  vote.  INIr.  Dorman 
B.  Eaton,  in  his  "Government  of  Municipalities," 
suggests  as  a  remedy  for  the  evils  resulting  from  the 
nomination  of  municipal  officers  by  the  state  and  na- 
tional parties,  what  he  calls  "free  nomination." 

Nomination  by  Petition.  In  support  of  his  plan  of 
free  nomination  I\Ir.  Eaton  saysi^  "There  is  no  just 
basis  for  allowing  parties  to  control  their  [that  is 
city]  nominations,  but  a  manifest  need  of  enabling  all 
citizens  to  freely  exert  their  influence  both  as  to 
nominations  and  elections  irrespective  of  party  rela- 
tions and  interests.  We  have  allowed  the  development 
of  so  haughty  a  despotism  on  the  part  of  parties  that 
their  majorities  now  claim  a  right  to  dictate  all  the 
nominations  and  very  largely  the  votes  of  their  ad- 
herents. What  should  be  represented  by  the  candi- 
dates in  city  elections  of  city  officers  is  neither  par- 
ties nor  factions  nor  party  principles,  but  the  public 
opinion  policy  and  interests  of  the  city  and  its  resi- 
'  P.  210. 
122 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


dents  concerning  their  own  affairs  regardless  of  party 
affiliations.  This  true  representation  can  be  secured 
only  by  means  that  shall  prevent  coercion  by  party 
managers  and  majorities  and  give  the  people  a  real 
freedom  in  the  nomination  and  election  of  their  city 
officers.  ...  No  political  right  is  clearer  than  that  of 
all  citizens  to  freely  nominate  such  candidates  as  they 
prefer.  Every  voter  would  be  the  sole  judge  for  him- 
self as  to  how  far  it  is  a  patriotic  duty  for  him — and 
there  may  be  such  a  duty— to  cooperate  with  others 
in  election.  Yet  city  parties  quite  generally,  and  their 
managers  and  leaders  almost  constantly  seek  not  only 
to  make  nominations  decisive  of  elections,  but  to  de- 
prive the  citizens  of  all  real  liberty  to  vote  effectively 
for  any  other  candidates  save  those  which  these  par- 
ties impose  upon  them. ' ' 

What  Mr.  Eaton  thus  pleads  for  under  the  name  of 
free  nomination  is  nothing  more  than  nomination  by 
petition.  The  question  of  nomination  by  petition  has 
arisen  in  this  country  very  recently  as  a  result  of  the 
adoption  of  an  official  ballot  to  be  printed  and  dis- 
tributed by  state  officers  at  state  expense.  This  sys- 
tem originated  in  Australia,  and  came  to  be  known  to 
us  in  this  country  mainly  as  a  result  of  its  being  in- 
corporated into  the  English  ballot  act  of  1872.  In 
its  English  form  it  provided  in  no  way  for  the  recog- 
nition of  parties.  Nominations  were  to  be  made  by 
two  proposers  and  approved  by  at  least  eight  voters 
of  the  district  for  which  the  election  was  to  be  held. 
When  the  question  of  the  adoption  of  the  official  bal- 
lot in  the  United  States  arose,  the  demand  was  made 
that  English  methods  be  considerably  modified.  They 

123 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


were  modified  in  the  first  place  by  giving  the  party 
legal  recognition.  The  party  was  defined  as  an  or- 
ganization which  had  cast  a  certain  percentage  of  the 
vote  at  the  last  election.  The  convention  of  a  party 
making  a  nomination  was  to  certify  its  nomination  to 
the  state  ballot  ofifieers,  and  the  candidates  of  such 
party  were  placed  on  the  ballot  in  one  column.  This 
party  column  ballot  as  it  was  called  indicated  to  the 
voter  the  party  to  which  the  candidates  belonged,  since 
at  the  head  of  the  column  was  either  the  name  of  the 
party  or  a  party  emblem. 

Provision  was  made  finally  in  the  American  ballot 
acts  for  nominations  not  made  by  any  one  of  the  regu- 
lar parties.  Such  nominations  were  made  by  means 
of  a  petition  which  was  to  be  signed  by  a  number  of 
persons  varying  with  the  territorial  extent  of  the  dis- 
trict over  which  the  office,  for  which  the  nomination 
was  thus  made,  had  jurisdiction.  The  nimiber  of  sig- 
natures to  the  petition  necessary  to  make  one  of  these 
independent  nominations  was,  as  a  general  thing,  made 
very  much  greater  than  was  the  case  under  the  Eng- 
lish ballot  act  of  1872.  The  reason  that  was  offered 
for  demanding  such  a  large  number  of  signatures  was 
that  under  our  ballot  acts,  different  from  the  English 
ballot  act,  the  state  is  to  pay  for  the  expense  of  the 
ballot.  In  England  the  expense  of  the  ballot  is  de- 
frayed by  the  candidates.  It  was  believed  that  in 
this  country  it  would  not  be  proper  to  adopt  the  Eng- 
lish method  of  throwing  the  cost  of  the  nomination  on 
the  candidate.  The  number  of  signatures  required 
for  a  valid  nomination  petition  was  therefore  made 

124 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


quite  large,  in  order  to  prevent  inconsiderate  nomina- 
tions. 

Mr.  Eaton's  contention  is  that  we  should  adopt  the 
English  plan.  We  should  not  recognize  the  nomina- 
tions of  party  conventions ;  we  should  reduce  the  num- 
ber of  signatures  necessary  to  a  valid  nomination 
petition,  and  should  arrange  the  candidates  in  alpha- 
betical order  under  the  offices  for  which  they  are 
nominated  and  not  under  the  party  column.  It  must, 
however,  be  remembered  that  the  conditions  existing 
in  the  United  States  are  very  different  from  the  con- 
ditions existing  in  England.  In  the  first  place  the 
number  of  offices  to  be  filled  by  election  is  in  England 
much  smaller  than  in  this  country.  It  is  very  doubt- 
ful if  in  thickly  populated  districts  where  the  voting 
population  is  large  and  not  very  intelligent,  where 
the  neighborhood  feeling  is  not  strong,  and  where 
the  officers  to  be  chosen  at  one  election  are  many  in 
number,  the  ordinary  voter  can  intelligently  choose 
the  officers  to  be  chosen  except  with  the  aid  of  a  party. 
This  he  would  not  have  if  the  nominations  were  not 
put  into  a  party  column.  It  is  also  extremely  desir- 
able that  the  officers  elected  at  a  given  election  should 
so  far  as  possible  have  the  same  purposes  in  view,  and, 
therefore,  should  belong  to  the  same  party.*  This 
result  can  be  secured  more  easily  through  the  party 
column  than  in  any  other  way. 

Mr.  Eaton's  plan  of  free  nomination  is,  therefore, 
not  a  plan  which  under  our  present  system  of  city 

'  This  party  need  not,  of  course,  be  one  of  the  state  and 
national  parties  but  may  be  a  city  party. 

125 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


government  would  appear  to  be  applicable  with  ad- 
vantage. With  the  relations  of  the  cities  to  the  state 
as  they  are  at  present,  with  a  large  number  of  offices 
to  be  filled  at  any  city  election  as  is  the  case  at  present, 
it  would  seem  as  if  this  system  of  free  nomination,  or 
nomination  by  petition,  would  be  utterly  inadequate 
to  produce  the  result  which  is  desired.  If  the  rela- 
tions between  our  cities  and  the  state  were  rearranged 
and  the  number  of  officers  to  be  elected  at  a  given  elec- 
tion were  reduced  it  is  altogether  probable  that  the 
English  system  of  nomination  could  be  introduced 
with  profit. 1 

Direct  Nomination.  Another  method  of  regulating 
municipal  elections  which  has  been  proposed  is  that 
which  is  known  as  direct  nomination.  By  the  system 
of  direct  nomination,  the  attempt  is  made  to  dispense 
entirely  with  the  party  convention  and  to  permit  the 
members  of  the  party  to  nominate  directly.  The  most 
interesting  experiment  which  has  been  made  in  this 
country  along  this  line  has  been  made  in  Minnesota.^ 
The  Minnesota  system  provides  that  nominations  to 
be  made  by  political  parties  shall  be  made  in  accord- 
ance with  the  provisions  of  the  primary  election  law 
of  the  state.  A  political  party  within  the  meaning  of 
the  act  is  one  which  gets  at  least  ten  per  cent,  of  the 
vote  cast  at  the  last  election  for  its  leading  candidate. 
In  a  general  way  the  principles  at  the  basis  of  this 

*  See  Goodnow,  ' '  Politics  and  Administration, ' '  p.  30. 

-  See  Meyer,  ' '  Nominating  Systems, ' '  for  a  description  of 
methods  of  direct  nomination.  In  the  appendix  to  this  book 
will  be  found  a  copy  of  the  primary  election  law  of  Minnesota. 

126 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


law  are  these :  On  the  day  provided  for  registration 
for  the  public  elections  every  one  who  presents  himself 
for  registration  is  permitted  to  east  a  vote  for  the 
choice  of  the  candidates  of  the  party  with  which  he 
then  desires  to  affiliate  himself.  Every  one  who  has 
the  right  to  vote  may  affiliate  himself  with  any  one 
of  the  political  parties  recognized  by  the  act  regard- 
less of  his  conduct  in  the  past.  The  ballots  for  this 
direct  primary  election  are  supplied  by  the  state. 
Any  one  may  present  himself  as  a  candidate  at  the 
primary  election  who  is  eligible  to  the  office  for  which 
he  seeks  to  be  a  candidate,  who  shall  have  filed  with 
the  proper  officer  an  affidavit  to  the  effect  that  it  is 
his  bona  fide  intention  to  run  for  nomination  for  such 
office  and  who  shall  have  paid  to  the  proper  officer  a 
sum  of  money,  the  amount  of  which  shall  be  regulated 
by  the  importance  of  the  office  for  which  he  desires  to 
be  a  candidate.  The  vote  is  an  absolutely  secret  vote, 
similar  to  the  vote  which  is  had  in  the  case  of  the  pub- 
lic elections.  The  candidates  at  the  primary  election 
receiving  the  highest  number  of  party  votes  are  de- 
clared to  be  the  candidates  of  the  respective  parties, 
and  are  placed  then  upon  the  official  ballot  for  the 
public  elections. 

This  method  of  nominating  candidates  was  adopted 
in  the  year  1899  for  counties  having  over  200,000  in- 
habitants, being  limited  to  city  and  county  offices  and 
to  the  position  of  member  of  the  state  legislature  and 
of  congress.  There  was  only  one  such  county  in  the 
state,  viz.,  the  county  of  Hennepin  which  contained 
the  city  of  Minneapolis.  The  first  election  under  the 
system  took  place  in  the  year  1900  and  resulted  in  the 

127 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


election  of  a  mayor  whose  administration  was  ex- 
tremely unsatisfactory.  All  the  members  of  the  city 
council  and  all  the  other  officers  elected,  however,  were 
satisfactory.  The  people  of  Minnesota  did  not, 
therefore,  believe  that  the  experiment  had  failed.  At 
the  next  session  of  the  legislature  the  law  was  made 
applicable  to  all  the  state,  except  for  state  officers  such 
as  governor,  secretary  of  state,  and  so  on.  There  was 
another  election  held  under  the  system  in  1902.  The 
results  were  extremely  satisfactory,  and  the  attempts 
which  were  later  made  in  the  legislature  to  repeal  the 
law  were  unsuccessful. ^  The  question  of  direct  nomi- 
nation has  become  an  extremely  important  one  in  the 
state  of  Wisconsin  also,  and  there  is  every  indica- 
tion that  the  legislature  of  that  state  will  soon  put 
upon  the  statute  book  a  law  somewhat  similar  to  the 
law  which  has  just  been  described. 

Regulation  of  Parties.  A  third  method  which  has 
been  devised  for  changing  the  present  system  of  nomi- 
nation is  that  of  the  regulation  of  the  existing  party 
nomination  operations  by  act  of  the  legislature  and 
their  subjection  to  the  control  of  the  courts.  This  is 
the  method  which  has  been  adopted  in  the  state  of 
New  York.  The  present  primary  law  of  the  year 
1899  provides  that  the  primary  elections  of  the  state 
parties,  which  are  defined  somewhat  as  under  the  law 
of  Minnesota,  shall  be  held  in  accordance  with  its  pro- 
visions. This  law  offers  the  voter,  at  the  time  he  reg- 
isters for  the  state  elections,  the  opportunity  to  register 

'  See  ' '  Detroit  Conference  for  Good  City  Government  of  the 
National  Munioipal  League,"  p.  32. 

128 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


himself  as  an  elector  of  any  one  of  the  recognized 
political  parties.  In  order  that  the  party  affiliations 
of  voters  may  be  kept  secret  the  voter  is  provided 
with  an  envelop  in  which  he  inserts  a  slip  of  paper 
indicating  the  party  with  which  he  wishes  to  affiliate 
himself.  This  envelop  is  sealed  and  deposited  in  a 
ballot-box,  and  from  the  envelops  so  deposited  the 
rolls  of  the  different  parties  are  made  up.  Provision 
is  made  in  the  act  also  for  a  subsequent  registration 
which  may  take  place  up  to  within  a  given  time  prior 
to  the  date  of  the  primary  election.  Such  provision 
was  necessary  because  the  registration  for  the  pur- 
pose of  voting  with  the  party  takes  place  in  the  au- 
tumn of  one  year,  the  primary  election  of  that  party, 
nine  or  ten  months  later.  All  of  the  operations  at  this 
primary  election,  together  with  those  of  the  conven- 
tions which  are  the  result  of  such  primary  election, 
are  subject  to  the  control  of  the  courts  in  much  the 
same  way  as  are  the  state  elections.  This  system  of 
primary  elections  does  not  thus  do  away  with  party 
conventions,  though  it  is  stated  in  the  law  that  the 
city,  village,  or  county  organization  of  any  one  of  the 
parties  may  adopt  direct  nominations  for  city,  village, 
or  county  officers  if  it  sees  fit. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  exactly  what  has  been  the  effect 
of  the  subjection  to  the  control  of  the  courts  of  the 
operations  of  the  parties  in  the  nomination  of  their 
candidates.  On  the  whole  it  may  be  said  that  there 
is  much  greater  satisfaction  exhibited  by  the  gen- 
eral voter  with  the  actions  of  the  party  than  was  the 
ease  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  law.  So  far  as  the 
effect  on  the  municipal  elections  is  concerned  it  may 
»  129 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


be  said  that  it  is  good.  Since  the  adoption  of  the 
legislation  it  has  been  much  easier  for  the  indepen- 
dent voter  to  release  himself  from  the  domination  of 
the  party  than  was  the  case  before.  In  the  city  of 
New  York,  for  example,  the  independent  voter  has  had 
very  much  greater  opportunities  since  the  passage  of 
this  legislation  to  make  his  voice  felt  in  the  manage- 
ment of  city  affairs.  This  is  largely  due  to  the  state- 
ment in  the  law  that  one's  position  in  the  state  party 
is  in  no  way  imperiled  by  the  action  which  he  may  take 
in  a  municipal  election. 

City  Parties.  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  it  is  pos- 
sible by  means  of  any  scheme  based  upon  legislative 
action  to  secure  to  the  independent  voter  at  municipal 
elections  the  control  of  city  affairs.  The  only  thing 
that  can  be  done  is  to  make  it  easier  for  him  to  relieve 
himself  from  the  domination  of  the  political  party. 
The  desired  end  of  securing  the  management  of  city 
affairs,  apart  from  considerations  of  national  and  state 
polities,  can  be  secured  therefore  only  through  the 
voluntary  cooperation  of  the  members  of  both  the 
great  political  parties  irrespective  of  any  methods 
which  may  be  provided  by  the  action  of  the  legisla- 
ture. 

Fusion  in  New  York  City.  There  have  been  two  im- 
portant methods  of  such  cooperation  to  which  it  is 
desirable  to  call  attention.  One  of  these  has  received 
possibly  its  highest  development  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  More  than  ten  years  ago  a  large  number  of 
voters  became  convinced  that  it  was  absolutely  impos- 

130 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 

sible  under  the  conditions  which  existed  in  the  city  to 
secure  good  city  government  through  the  agency  of 
either  one  of  the  great  national  and  state  political 
parties.  The  attempt  was  then  made  to  form  a  new 
political  organization,  not  connected  with  either  of  the 
parties,  which  should  enter  the  field  of  politics  only  on 
the  occasion  of  municipal  elections.  The  first  attempt 
that  was  made  in  this  direction  was,  as  is  usually  the 
case  with  such  movements,  unsuccessful.  Subsequent 
to  the  defeat  of  this  municipal  party,  and  in  1894,  the 
constitution  of  the  state  of  New  York  was  so  changed 
as  to  separate  municipal  from  state  elections.  Imme- 
diately after  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  the  con- 
ditions in  New  York  were  so  bad  that  an  attempt 
was  made  this  time  to  unite  the  elements  opposed  to 
the  dominant  political  party  in  the  city.  This  at- 
tempt was  successful,  and  the  government  presided 
over  by  the  late  Mayor  Strong  was  inducted  into 
office.  The  coalition  which  secured  the  election  of 
Mayor  Strong  was,  however,  multi-partizan  rather 
than  non-partizan.  In  the  election  of  1897  the  at- 
tempt was  again  made  to  organize  a  political  party 
for  the  city  which,  from  the  point  of  view  of  national 
and  state  politics,  was  distinctly  non-partizan.  This 
attempt  was  a  failure,  owing,  as  many  believe,  to  the 
failure  to  unite  with  one  of  the  political  parties 
within  the  city.  Since  that  time  the  Citizens'  Union, 
as  the  new  political  organization  was  called,  has  re- 
mained in  existence.  It  has,  with  the  course  of  time, 
appealed  to  more  and  more  people,  and,  as  a  result 
of  the  recognition  of  its  mistake  in  1897,  has  endeav- 
ored so  far  as  may  be  to  unite  with  the  minority  state 

131 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


political  party  in  the  city.  It  was  successful  at  the 
polls  in  1901,  but  lost  the  election  in  1903. 

The  administration  of  the  city,  which,  during  the 
years  1902-4,  was  conducted  by  the  candidates  of 
the  Fusion  party,  as  it  is  commonly  known,  was,  in 
the  opinion  of  most  of  those  competent  to  judge  of  the 
matter,  an  administration  which  had  in  view,  as  far 
as  that  was  possible,  the  interests  of  the  city  alone, 
and  was  actuated  little,  if  at  all,  by  considerations 
of  national  and  state  politics.  The  city,  as  a  result, 
had  a  better  government  than  it  had  had  in  the 
memory  of  its  oldest  citizen,*  and  the  people  of  New 
York  believe  that  they  have  been  successful  in  solving 
the  question  of  the  non-partizan  administration  of 
city  government.  However  discouraging  to  the  advo- 
cates of  non-partizan  city  government  may  be  the 
recent  defeat  of  the  Fusion  party,  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
there  are  few  of  its  advocates  who  are  convinced  that 
the  methods  adopted  in  New  York  to  achieve  the  de- 
sired result  are  wrong  vSider  the  social  and  political 
conditions  existing  in  the  city. 

Chicago  Municipal  Voters'  Lea^e.  In  Chicago  things 
have  taken  a  somewhat  different  course.^  The 
instrument,  by  means  of  which  very  much  the  same 
result  has  been  secured  as  has  been  secured  in  New 
York  by  the  Citizens'  Union,  is  the  Municipal  Voters' 

'  Cf.  Steffens,  ' '  The  Shame  of  the  Cities, ' '  p.  16. 

'  A  description  of  the  method  adopted  in  Chicago  is  contained 
in  an  article  entitled  ' '  The  Municipal  Situation  in  Chicago, ' ' 
by  Frank  H.  Scott,  published  in  the  ' '  Proceedings  of  the  De- 
troit Conference  for  Good  City  Government, ' '  page  140. 

132 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


League.  This  was  organized  in  the  year  1896.  "It 
avowed 'its  purpose  to  secure  the  election  of  'aggres- 
sively honest  men'  to  the  Council  and  employed  sur- 
prisingly simple  methods  to  effect  its  aim.  Eight 
municipal  campaigns  have  been  fought  since  it  be- 
came a  factor.  The  once  powerful  gang  has  been 
completely  overthrown,  but  three  of  its  fifty-eight 
members  remaining  in  the  Council,  and  they  are 
wholly  discredited  and  without  influence.  In  its 
place  there  is  a  Council  of  an  unusually  high  average 
in  character  and  intelligence,  fifty-three  of  whose  sev- 
enty members  can  fairly  be  relied  on  to  be  faithful  to 
the  interests  of  the  people  they  represent.  Each  year 
the  standard  is  being  raised.  To  become  an  alderman 
is  an  honorable  ambition,  and  young  men  of  educa- 
tion, standing,  and  ability  are  aspirants  for  the  po- 
sition. A  very  remarkable  fact  is  that  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Council's  committees,  party  affiliations 
have  no  place.  This  regeneration  is  by  no  means  the 
full  measure  of  the  results  achieved  in  those  cam- 
paigns. The  interest  of  the  people  in  the  welfare  of 
the  city  has  been  greatly  stimulated,  with  the  neces- 
sary consequence  of  a  large  increase  of  the  indepen- 
dent vote  at  municipal  elections."  * 

The  methods  of  the  Municipal  Voters'  League  are 
quite  different  from  those  of  the  Citizens'  Union  in 
New  York.  "When  the  nominations  [of  the  regular 
parties]  have  been  made  there  is  submitted  to  each 
candidate  who  is  not  considered  hopelessly  bad  the 
League  platform.  This  is  a  pledge,  not  to  the  League 
but  to  the  people.  .  .  .  The  candidate  may  sign,  modify, 
Ihid.,  p.  148. 

133 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


or  refuse  to  sign  the  platform,  without  thereby  as- 
suring either  the  League's  support  or  its  condemna- 
tion. The  people  are  informed  of  his  action  in  regard 
to  it  by  the  reports."  ^  In  addition  to  informing  the 
people  as  to  the  position  which  each  candidate  takes, 
the  League  takes  an  active  part  in  the  campaign,  sup- 
porting those  candidates  whom  it  approves  and  en- 
deavoring to  defeat  those  candidates  whom  it  disap- 
proves. The  success  of  the  League  work  is  attributed 
"to  the  sincere  desire  of  a  large  portion  of  the  com- 
munity for  better  government.  Given  the  facts,  the 
average  citizen,  not  politically  hidebound,  prefers  to 
vote  for  a  fit  man  rather  than  for  a  bad  or  an  unfit 
one.  The  League  furnishes  the  facts,  unbiased  by 
partizanship  or  personal  feeling  and  unaffected  by 
libel  suits  or  threats.  The  people  of  Chicago  have 
confidence  in  it  and  accept  its  judgments. ' '  ^ 

The  New  York  and  Chicago  methods  of  securing, 
irrespective  of  legislation,  a  non-partizan  city  govern- 
ment, have  this  in  common:  Neither  the  Citizens' 
Union  of  New  York  nor  the  Municipal  Voters'  League 
of  Chicago  busies  itself  with  anything  except  what 
it  regards  as  city  elections.  It  is  true,  of  course, 
that  in  the  city  of  New  York  the  Citizens'  Union  does 
nominate  candidates  for  the  state  assembly,  but  this  is 
because  the  control  of  the  legislature  over  the  city  is 
so  great  that  it  is  a  much  more  important  city  author- 
ity than  is  the  Board  of  Aldermen  of  the  city  of  New 
York  itself. 

This  attempt  to  separate  national  and  state  from 
city  politics  is  characteristic  of  a  majority  of  the 
1  Jlid.,  p.  153.  2  7j,vf.,  p.  156, 

134 


PARTICIPATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE 


luetliods  adopted  iu  this  country  for  the  betterment 
of  city  government.^  It  is  seldom,  however,  that  the 
attempt  has  been  made  to  form  a  political  organiza- 
tion separate  from  the  national  and  state  parties  by 
means  of  which  the  result  desired  is  to  be  sought. 
The  most  ambitious  attempt  of  this  sort  is  that  made 
by  the  Citizens'  Union  in  New  York.  But  even  this 
organization  has  found  by  experience  that  its  best 
chances  of  success  are  to  be  expected  when  it  acts  in 
alliance  with  other  political  organizations,  even  where 
those  other  organizations  are  parts  of  a  national  and 
state  party. 

In  Chicago  the  Municipal  Voters'  League  is  not  a 
political  organization,  since  it  makes  no  nominations 
itself.  It  accomplishes  its  work  by  criticism  of  the 
nominations  of  the  regular  political  organizations. 
Through  this  criticism  it  has,  however,  done  much  to 
secure  an  administration  of  city  government  which, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  political  parties,  is  a 
non-partizan  one. 

We  may,  therefore,  conclude  that  at  present  the 
time  is  not  ripe  for  the  formation  of  a  city  party 
which  shall  attempt  to  play  a  lone  hand  in  the  game 
of  city  politics.  Whether  the  time  will  ever  be  ripe 
for  such  action  may  be  doubted.  At  present  the 
proper  practical  procedure  for  those  to  adopt  who 
wish  to  secure  non-partizan  administration  of  city 
government  under  existing  political  and  govern- 
mental conditions,  is  to  secure  a  fusion  of  the  inde- 

^  See  Tolman,  ' '  Municipal  Eef orm  Movements, ' '  where  the 
purposes  and  methods  of  a  large  number  of  organizations  are 
described. 


135 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


pendent  voters  with  the  political  party,  naturally  in 
minority  in  the  city,  on  the  platform  of  an  adminis- 
tration of  city  government  which  shall,  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  national  and  state  political  parties,  be 
as  nearly  non-partizan  in  character  as  the  intelligence 
of  the  people  will  insist  on  having  and  as  the  political 
party,  with  which  fusion  is  desired,  will  permit. 

In  the  meantime  all  should  strive  to  secure  those 
changes  in  legislation  relative  to  city  matters  which 
have  been  referred  to  as  making  easier  the  future 
divorce  of  city  from  state  and  national  politics  and 
independent  voting  in  city  matters. 


136 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL  * 

Original  City  Organization.  A  study  of  the  history 
of  municipal  development  will  show  us  that  the  im- 
portant elements  of  the  original  municipal  organiza- 
tion have  been,  in  the  first  place,  a  general  assembly  of 
the  political  inhabitants  of  the  municipality ;  in  the 
second  place,  a  council ;  and,  in  the  third  place,  one  or 
more  magistrates.  This  was  the  organization  of  the 
Roman  municipality  with  its  comitia,  its  curia,  and 
its  duumvirs  defensor  and  curator.  This  was  the  or- 
ganization of  the  original  Frankish  city  with  its  free- 
men, its  rackimburgs  or  scabini,  and  its  count  or 
bishop.  This  was  the  original  organization  of  the 
English  borough  with  its  court  leet,  its  leet  jury,  and 
its  mayor,  provost,  or  reeve. 

This  original  rather  popular  organization  was 
modified  almost  everywhere  by  the  disappearance  of 

'  Authorities :  Wilcox,  ' '  The  Study  of  City  Government ; ' ' 
Durand,  ' '  The  Finances  of  New  York  City ;  "  "  Council  versus 
Mayor, "  in  "  Political  Science  Quarterly, ' '  Vol.  XV,  p.  426, 
675;  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies  in  Historical  and  Po- 
litical Science,  Vols.  V  and  VII;  Eaton,  "Government  of  Mu- 
nicipalities, "  "A  Municipal  Program, ' '  Commons,  ' '  Propor- 
tional Eepresentation ;  "  Charters  of  selected  cities, 

137 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


the  assembly  of  the  political  inhabitants.  The  disap- 
pearance of  the  assembly  was  due,  probably  in  part, 
to  its  unfitness  for  the  discharge  of  governmental  du- 
ties under  conditions  which  were  at  all  complex  in 
character,  and  in  part  to  the  tendency,  whose  existence 
has  been  commented  upon  several  times,  toward  the 
development  in  cities  of  oligarchical  governments. 
For  not  merely  were  the  functions  of  the  original  as- 
sembly transferred  to  the  council,  but  the  council  re- 
lieved itself  from  popular  control  in  that  it  commonly 
secured  the  renewal  of  its  existence  through  coopta- 
tion. 

The  two  elements  of  the  original  municipal  organi- 
zation which  have  survived  are  then  a  council  and 
magistrates.  A  municipal  organization  based  on  these 
two  elements  is  an  organization  which  resembles  the 
organization  formed  for  the  discharge  of  all  govern- 
mental functions,  where  it  is  intended  that  these  func- 
tions shall  be  subjected  to  popular  control.  It  would 
seem,  therefore,  that  the  municipal  organization 
which  depends  upon  a  council  and  magistrates  is  an 
organization  which  is  justified  both  by  theory  and  ex- 
perience where  popular  government  is  desired. 

It  is,  however,  to  be  remembered  that  this  form  of 
municipal  organization  was  worked  out  during  a 
period  when  municipalities  were  exercising  powers 
which  are  now  regarded  as  distinctly  governmental, 
when  municipalities  were  acting  more  or  less  as  little 
states.  The  question  naturally  presents  itself,  Is  the 
form  of  municipal  organization  which  had  become 
universally  accepted  by  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury a  form  of  organization  which  is  suited  to  the 

138 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


conditions  of  modern  municipal  life?  The  claim  is 
often  made  at  the  present  time,  particularly  in  the 
United  States,  that  cities  have  ceased  to  be  govern- 
mental authorities  and  resemble  more  closely  business 
corporations ;  that  municipal  administration  is  busi- 
ness, not  government ;  that,  as  a  result,  a  city  council 
is  an  unnecessary  element  in  municipal  adminstra- 
tion  and  should  be  done  away  with.  The  municipal 
council,  under  the  conditions  of  modern  American  mu- 
nicipal life,  has  been  compared  with  the  vermiform 
appendix,  whose  presence  in  the  human  organism 
is  liable  to  cause  trouble,  without  discharging,  so  far 
as  known,  any  useful  function. 

Decay  of  City  Coimcil.  This  feeling  that  the  council 
is  a  useless  part  of  the  city  government  in  the  United 
States  has  found  expression  in  municipal  charters. 
It  is  seen  in  the  general  decline  in  importance  of  the 
council  to  which  attention  has  been  called.  It  is  seen 
also,  in  rare  instances,  in  what  has  amounted  to  the 
abolition  of  the  council  in  the  case  of  particular  cities. 
Thus,  "by  the  charter  of  1879  the  'administrative 
system'  was  introduced  into  the  New  Orleans  govern- 
ment. The  mayor  and  seven  administrators  were 
elected  by  general  ticket.  The  seven  were  at  the 
heads  of  the  departments  of  finance,  commerce,  im- 
provements, assessment,  police,  public  accounts,  and 
waterworks  and  public  buildings,  respectively.  To- 
gether with  the  mayor  these  heads  of  administrative 
departments  formed  the  council  for  local  legisla- 
tion."^ A  similar  organization  is  still  maintained  in 
^  Wilcox,  ' '  The  Study  of  City  Government, ' '  p.  147, 

139 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Memphis.  A  body  called  the  legislative  council  ex- 
ists which  "consists  of  eight  persons,  being  the  mem- 
bers of  two  boards  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city 
at  large — the  board  of  fire  and  police  commissioners, 
consisting  of  three  members,  and  the  board  of  public 
works,  consisting  of  five  members. "  ^  In  New  York 
city,  under  the  charter  as  it  existed  just  prior  to 
1897,  the  city  council  had  such  few  powers  that  its 
influence  on  the  city  government  was  practically  nil. 

What  is  it  now  that  has  caused  this  decline  in  im- 
portance of  the  city  council  ?  Most  people  will  an- 
swer this  question  by  saying  that  the  work  of  the 
council  was  not  satisfactory,  because  its  members 
were  corrupt,  or  because  they  lacked  wisdom.  How 
it  came  about  that  they  so  degenerated,  native  Ameri- 
cans attempt  to  explain  by  pointing  to  the  'immense 
immigration  into  the  cities  during  the  early  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century  of  foreigners  who  were  not 
brought  up  with  American  ideas  of  local  self-govern- 
ment. 

The  explanation  which  is  given  for  the  deteriora- 
tion of  the  membership  of  the  council  is  not,  however, 
satisfactory.  Immigration  into  the  United  States, 
prior  to  1820,  was  not  important.  "During  the 
'twenties'  the  immigration  was  small,  only  10,000  or 
12.000  coming  over  annually,  increasing  to  20,000  in 
1826  and  1827,  owing  probably  to  the  commercial  de- 
pression in  England.  In  the  'thirties'  it  grew  stead- 
ily, decrea-sing  in  the  years  1836  and  1837  on  account 
of  the  depression  of  trade  in  this  country.  The  num- 
ber first  reached  100,000  in  1842  but  sank  the  foUow- 

^Ibid.,  p.  164. 

140 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


ing  years,  showing  that  the  normal  figure  at  that  time 
was  somewhat  less.  In- 1846  began  the  first  of  those 
great  movements  due  to  crises  in  the  old  world  which 
have  occurred  frequently  since  and  whose  reflex  action 
tends  to  keep  the  tide  permanently  strong.  The  com- 
bination of  bad  times  in  Germany  and  the  famine  in 
Ireland  made  the  enormous  maximum  (427,833)  in 
1854.  This  number  was  not  reached  again  until  after 
the  civil  war."  i  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  tide  of 
immigration  into  this  country  cannot  be  said  to  have 
been  a  very  important  one  until  about  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century. 

The  movement  away  from  council  government  be- 
gan, however,  as  early  as  1830.  The  mayor  began  to 
be  made  elective  by  the  people  as  early  as  1822 ;  the 
New  York  Municipal  Convention  of  1829  adopted 
the  principle  for  the  city  of  New  York,  gave  the 
mayor  a  veto  power  and  tried  to  secure  the  establish- 
ment of  separate  executive  departments  by  enacting 
that  "the  executive  business  of  the  Corporation  of 
New  York  shall  hereafter  be  performed  by  distinct  de- 
partments which  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  common 
council  to  organize  and  appoint  for  that  purpose."  ^ 

The  dissatisfaction  with  council  government,  there- 
fore, existed  prior  to  the  time  when  any  great  for- 
eign immigration  began.  It  could  not,  therefore,  have 
been  caused  by  any  lack  of  political  capacity  due  to 
foreign  immigration.  To  what  this  dissatisfaction 
was  due  is  not  known,  but  it  is  probable  that  it  was 
the  belief  that  the  council  system  of  municipal  gov- 
*  E.  M.  Smith,  "Emigration  and  Immigration,"  p.  41. 
^  Duranfl,  "  TLe  Finances  of  New  York  City,"  p.  43. 

141 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


ernment  was  not  in  accord  with  the  generally  ac- 
cepted theories  of  the  political  science  of  the  time. 
The  political  science  of  the  early  part  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  laid  great  emphasis  on  the  French 
theory  of  the  separation  of  powers  which  had  been 
made  the  basis  of  the  state  and  national  governments. 

Of  course  we  must  assume  that  council  government 
had  its  faults.  No  system  of  government  has  ever 
existed,  which  it  is  the  lot  of  the  student  to  study, 
which  has  not  had  its  faults.  These  faults,  it  has 
already  been  said,  were  probably  in  large  part,  if  not 
entirely,  the  consequence  of  the  attitude  of  the  po- 
litical parties  toward  city  government,  but  the  ma- 
lign influences  of  party  on  city  government  were  not 
at  the  time  perceived,  or  if  perceived,  those  in  con- 
trol of  the  political  fortunes  of  the  country  were  too 
anxious  to  build  up  and  strengthen  the  parties  to  per- 
mit their  conduct  to  be  influenced  by  the  fortunes  of 
the  city. 

In  any  case  it  was  only  natural  that  the  existing  de- 
fects in  municipal  government  should  be  attributed 
to  the  municipal  organization,  which  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  prevailing  political  science  was  theo- 
retically defective,  and  that  the  attempt  should  be 
made  so  to  remodel  that  organization  as  to  bring  it 
into  line  with  what  was  regarded  as  theoretically 
proper.  The  changes  which  were  made  were  unques- 
tionably followed  by  deterioration  in  the  character 
of  the  council,  if  we  may  judge  from  contempora- 
neous testimony.  The  character  of  the  council  seems 
to  have  changed  for  the  worse,  whether  as  a  result  of 
the  immigration  which  began  about  this  time,  or  be- 

142 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


cause  of  the  diminished  importance  of  the  council 
resulting  from  the  changes  made  in  the  municipal 
organization.  Subsequent  legislation  throughout  the 
United  States,  with  few  exceptions,  has  been  char- 
acterized, till  within  very  recent  years,  by  a  continu- 
ous encroachment  upon  the  powers  of  the  council 
until,  as  we  have  seen,  it  has  become,  in  some  cities  at 
any  rate,  of  almost  no  importance  at  all. 

While  in  the  United  States  we  have  reduced  our 
city  council  to  a  position  of  insignificance  as  compared 
with  the  position  which  it  occupied  at  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  in  Europe  it  has  not  only 
retained  the  position  which  it  then  occupied  in  the 
municipal  organization,  but,  owing  to  the  increased 
importance  of  municipal  government,  has  become  an 
authority  of  vastly  greater  power.  It  is  often  at- 
tempted to  explain  the  success  of  council  government 
in  Europe  by  pointing  to  the  fact  that  the  municipal 
suffrage  there  has  always  been  limited.  This  fact 
alone  will  not,  however,  explain  its  success,  since  we 
have  only  to  go  slightly  back  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury to  find  the  municipal  councils  everywhere 
throughout  Europe  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  degrada- 
tion, although  they  were  formed  by  methods  quite  the 
reverse  of  election  by  universal  suffrage. 

The  universal  degradation  of  the  municipal  council 
in  Europe  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  municipal  government  was 
sacrificed  in  the  interest  of  the  national  state :  in  Eng- 
land, owing  to  the  attempt  to  build  up  the  national 
parties,  to  which  everything  in  the  government  was 
sacrificed ;  in  Continental  Europe,  owing  to  the  at- 

143 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


tempt  to  do  away  with  that  feudal  autonomy  which 
had  made  the  existence  of  the  national  state  impos- 
sible. It  has  already  been  said  that  the  disfavor  into 
which  the  municipal  council  fell  in  the  United  States 
was  due  to  evils  which  resulted  in  the  United  States 
no  more  than  in  Europe  from  any  inherent  defect  of 
the  council,  but  from  the  fact  that  municipal  govern- 
ment was  sacrificed  in  the  interest  of  the  state. 

In  the  United  States  we  wreaked  our  vengeance  on 
the  council.  In  Europe  the  system  of  municipal  and 
state  government  was  so  reorganized  that  the  interests 
of  municipalities  might  be  considered  on  their  merits 
and  apart  from  any  effect  which  the  control  of  muni- 
cipal government  might  have  on  state  politics. 

Effects  of  the  Decay  of  City  Council.  One  of  the  re- 
sults of  the  decrease  in  importance  of  the  municipal 
council  in  the  United  States  was  the  loss  by  the  cities 
of  local  autonomy.  The  movement  toward  diminish- 
ing the  powers  of  the  council  was  accompanied  by  a 
movement  in  the  direction  of  state  management  of 
local  affairs.  This  was  perhaps  as  marked  as  any- 
where in  the  case  of  the  City  of  New  York.  The  char- 
ter of  1849  finally  established  in  the  government  of 
New  York  the  principle  of  separate  executive  depart- 
ments, the  heads  of  which  were  selected  by  the  city 
voters;  but  later,  i.e.,  in  1853,  appointed  by  the  mayor 
with  the  approval  of  the  council.  In  the  year  1857 
began  the  assumption  by  the  state  government  of  the 
right  to  appoint  the  heads  of  the  most  important  city 
departments.  The  legislature  did,  it  is  true,  in  1870, 
restore  the  method  of  local  appointment  which  has 

144 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


been  maintained  up  to  the  present  day,  but  it  did  no- 
thing to  rehabilitate  the  council.  In  fact,  little  by 
little  the  council  was  practically  shorn  of  all  power. 
It  was  both  shut  out  from  participation  in  adminis- 
tration and  deprived  of  powers  of  legislation. 

The  legislative  powers  of  the  council  were  assumed 
by  the  legislature  of  the  state,  which  determined  the 
municipal  policy  by  the  passage  of  special  acts.  The 
result  was  that  just  prior  to  1897,  the  year  of  the 
adoption  of  the  Greater  New  York  Charter,  all  impor- 
tant questions  relative  to  New  York  City  government 
were  determined  at  Albany.  The  city  had  lost  prac- 
tically all  legislative  power,  that  is,  the  power  of  for- 
mulating the  municipal  policy.  This  power  had  been 
assumed  by  the  state  legislature.  Thus,  for  example, 
when  it  was  desired  to  inaugurate  a  system  of  under- 
ground rapid  transit  it  was  found  that  the  powers  of 
the  eity  authorities  were  insufficient  for  the  purpose. 
Application  had  to  be  made  to  the  legislature  of  the 
state,  which  enacted  a  very  detailed  law  upon  the  sub- 
ject, providing  for  the  carrying  on  of  the  work  by  a 
commission  which  was  not  connected  with  the  muni- 
cipal authorities.  The  same  was  true  of  the  new  East 
River  bridge  which  was  begun  a  few  years  ago. 
Again,  when  the  city  desired  to  enter  into  the  policy 
of  municipal  ownership  of  the  water  front  it  was 
found  to  be  impossible  without  legislative  action  to 
carry  out  the  desire.  Finally,  when  it  was  desired  to 
increase  the  school  facilities  of  the  city  by  the  erection 
of  a  large  number  of  new  school-houses,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  appeal  to  the  legislature  in  order  to  get  the 
authority  to  issue  the  necessary  bonds. 
10  145 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 

Reaction  in  Favor  of  City  Council.  The  Greater  New 
York  Charter  of  1897  marked  a  change  in  the  policy 
which  had  been  followed  for  more  than  fifty  years. 
In  the  report  of  the  Greater  New  York  Charter  Com- 
mission it  was  said:  "When  the  Commission  came  to 
consider  the  legislative  department  for  the  greater 
city,  diverse  and  conflicting  views  and  plans  were 
urged  for  adoption.  The  general  judgment  was  that 
a  municipal  legislative  assembly  was  not  only  neces- 
sary but  indispensable.  But  as  to  the  constitution, 
size,  and  powers  of  such  an  assembly  conflicting  views 
were  also  presented  and  urged.  .  .  .  The  Commission 
has,  however,  converted  the  present  Board  of  Alder- 
men into  a  municipal  assembly  confjisting  of  two 
houses.  .  .  .  The  charter  has  been  constructed  upon 
the  principle  that  it  is  expedient  to  give  to  the  city  all 
the  power  necessary  to  conduct  its  own  affairs.  The 
Commission  has  accordingly  conferred  upon  the  muni- 
cipal assembly  legislative  authority  over  all  the  usual 
subjects  of  municipal  jurisdiction.  The  extent  and 
variety  of  its  powers,  as  well  as  its  size,  mark  the 
Commission's  sense  of  its  dignity  and  importance. 
With  a  view  to  self-development  the  Commission  has 
intrusted  the  new  city  with"  very  large  powers  which 
are  enumerated  in  the  report.  "The  City,  as  the 
Commission  has  constituted  it,  has  within  itself  all  the 
elements  and  powers  of  normal  growth  and  develop- 
ment, making  it  unnecessary  to  have  habitual  recourse 
as  hitherto  to  the  legislature  of  the  state  for  additional 
powers— a  serious  evil  and  in  the  past  the  source  of 
much  abuse.  These  powers— great,  varied,  and  even 
complex  as  they  necessarily  are— will,  when  seruti- 

146 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


nized,  be  seen  to  be  no  greater  than  the  city  requires 
and  to  be  always  legislative  in  character.  They  are 
such  as  the  municipalities  of  England  and  of  Europe 
as  well  as  of  this  counti-y  constantly  exercise.  .  .  . 
But  while  the  charter  thus  confers  upon  the  municipal 
assembly  powers  adequate  to  the  present  wants  and 
the  future  development  of  the  city,  it  interposes,  in 
accordance  with  established  American  polity,  a  va- 
riety of  checks  and  safeguards  against  their  abuse 
similar  in  their  nature  and  purpose  to  the  constitu- 
tional limitations  upon  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  and  the  legislatures  of  the  several  states." 
Indeed,  so  many  checks  were  thrown  about  the  action 
of  the  municipal  assembly  that  the  exercise  by  the 
municipal  authorities  of  the  wide  powers  granted  by 
the  charter  of  1897,  was  made  exceedingly  difficult. 
When  this  fact  is  borne  in  mind  it  will  at  once  be 
understood  why  the  people,  both  private  citizens  and 
city  officials  who  desired  something  done,  found  it 
easier  even  under  the  charter  of  1897  to  go  to  Albany 
as  they  had  gone  in  the  past,  than  to  worry  through 
the  various  authorities  which,  by  the  charter  of  1897, 
had  the  power  of  decision. 

The  grant  of  local  power  made  by  the  charter  of 
1897  did  not  thus  result  in  making  the  determination 
of  municipal  policy  a  local  matter.  The  charter  of 
1897  was  revised  in  1901.  The  commission  appointed 
to  make  this  revision  said  in  its  report :  ^  "In  consid- 
ering the  question  of  the  legislative  powers  to  be  con- 
ferred upon  the  city  of  New  York,  we  have  been  met 
in  the  first  instance  by  the  question  whether  any  city 

•P.  i. 
147 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


legislature  should  exist  at  all.  It  has  been  contended 
that  the  affairs  of  the  city  are  entirely,  or  almost  en- 
tirely, of  a  business  nature,  and  that  no  city  legisla- 
ture is  really  necessary  except  for  the  adoption  of 
what  may  commonly  be  called  administrative  rules 
and  regulations.  In  this  view  the  Commission  is  un- 
able to  concur.  There  will  be  many  questions  relating 
to  the  development  and  internal  administration  of  the 
city  which  must  be  the  constant  subject  of  legisla- 
tion, as  the  city  grows,  and  as  new  and  unforeseen 
conditions  arise.  Unless  a  city  legislative  body  ex- 
ists there  must  be  constant  legislation  by  the  State  as 
to  the  affairs  of  the  city  and  the  embarrassment  aris- 
ing therefrom  in  municipal  administration  is  gener- 
ally acknowledged.*  .  .  .  The  Commission  in  passing 
upon  the  question  of  the  legislative  powers  of  the 
city  has  substantially  adopted  the  views  which  are 
well  expressed  in  the  report  of  the  Commission  which 
framed  the  present  Greater  New  York  Charter." 

The  charter  which  w^as  adopted  in  1901  for  the  city 
of  New  York  differed  from  the  charter  of  1897  largely 
in  that  it  removed  certain  of  the  checks  which  had 
been  imposed  upon  the  action  of  the  municipal  as- 
sembly, and  in  that  it  made  it  easier  for  this  body  to 
act  by  reducing  from  two  to  one  the  number  of  houses 
of  which  it  was  composed.  The  draft  as  originally 
proposed  by  the  Charter  Revision  Commission  in- 
creased considerably  the  ordinance  power  of  the  board 
of  aldermen,  but  the  legislature  did  not  approve  of 
this  proposition  and  reduced  the  powers  of  the  board 
of  aldermen  in  this  respect  almost  to  what  they  were 
before. 

It  will  be  seen  from  what  has  been  said  that  in  the 
148 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


last  few  years  there  has  been  a  tendency  toward  re- 
storing to  the  council  of  the  city,  in  which  it  had  lost 
most  in  importance,  many  of  the  powers  of  which  it 
had  been  shorn  in  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  This  tendency  is  in  accord  with  the  ideas  of 
what  may  be  called  the  theoretical  writers  on  mu- 
nicipal government.  Bryce,  in  his  "American  Com- 
monwealth," was  perhaps  the  first  to  question  the 
wisdom  of  the  movement  toward  the  destruction  of 
the  council.  Dr.  Shaw's  books  on  municipal  gov- 
ernment in  Great  Britain  and  Continental  Europe 
took  even  more  positive  grounds.  Since  the  publica- 
tion of  these  works  most  of  the  books  which  have  ap- 
peared upon  the  question  have  acknowledged  that  a 
city  council  is  absolutely  necessary.  One  of  the  most 
urgent  pleas  for  its  retention  and  for  the  increase  of 
its  powers  is  the  late  Dorman  B.  Eaton's  "Govern- 
ment of  Municipalities." 

Few  of  the  theoretical  writers  on  the  subject  have 
gone  so  far  as  to  advocate  the  restoration  of  the  coun- 
cil to  the  position  which  it  occupied  in  the  United 
States  prior  to  1830,  when  it  absolutely  controlled  the 
city  government.  The  marked  exception  to  this  rule 
is  the  case  of  Dr.  Durand,  the  author  of  ' '  The  Finances 
of  New  York  City. ' '  Dr.  Durand,  in  two  articles  pub- 
lished in  the  "Political  Science  Qiiarterly, "  Septem- 
ber and  December,  1900,  entitled  "Council  versus 
Mayor, ' '  advocates  the  entire  rehabilitation  of  the  city 
council  and  the  adoption  of  what  has  come  to  be 
known  as  the  English  system  of  municipal  govern- 
ment. 

It  may,  therefore,  be  said  that  the  question  of  the 
position  of  the  council  in  the  city  government  of  the 

149 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


United  States  has  ceased  to  be  merely  an  academic 
question  and  has  become  one  of  real  practical  impor- 
tance. It  will  be  well,  therefore,  to  consider  the  main 
arguments  which  have  been  advanced  in  favor  of  the 
council  by  the  adherents  of  council  government  if 
we  may  include  within  that  term  all  those  who  favor 
an  increase  of  its  powers. 

The  first  argument  noticed  is  the  one  which  is  the 
basis  of  the  thesis  of  Dr.  Durand.  His  argument  is 
an  attack  on  the  principle  of  separation  of  powers  as 
applied  to  all  forms  of  government,  and  particularly 
on  the  applicability  of  the  principle  to  municipal  gov- 
ernment. This  argument,  as  Dr.  Durand  is  quite 
aware,  may  be  used  as  an  argument  as  well  in  favor 
of  the  increase  of  the  power  of  the  mayor  and  execu- 
tive departments  as  in  favor  of  the  rehabilitation  of 
the  council.  Dr.  Durand,  therefore,  attempts  to  show 
that  a  single  individual,  even  had  he  the  necessary 
time,  is  not  as  well  fitted  as  a  council  to  be  trusted  with 
deliberative  authority  and  general  responsibility  for 
government,  whether  in  the  nation,  the  state,  or  the 
city ;  that  a  similar  line  of  reasoning  goes  to  show  that 
the  action  of  a  council  is  more  likely  to  be  honest  and 
upright  than  that  of  an  individual ;  that  another  im- 
portant consideration  in  favor  of  intrusting  discre- 
tionary authority  to  a  council  rather  than  an  indi- 
vidual is  that  thereby  greater  continuity  is  secured ; 
and  that,  finally,  a  council  is  to  be  preferred  to  a  sin- 
gle individual,  because  it  is  more  apt  truly  to  represent 
the  people.^ 

^"Political  Science  Quarterly,"  December,  1900, 
p.  692  et  seq. 

150 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


The  second  argument  which  has  been  advanced  in 
favor  of  the  rehabilitation  of  the  council  is  that  its 
existence  is  necessary  in  order  that  reasonable  mu- 
nicipal home  rule  may  be  secured.  There  are  many 
powers  connected  both  with  the  determination  of  mu- 
nicipal policy  and  the  carrying  out  continuously  of 
that  policy  when  once  determined  upon,  which  are  of 
a  legislative  character ;  which,  in  other  words,  resemble 
powers  that  through  the  entire  American  system  of 
government  are  intrusted  to  a  deliberative  body.  So 
long  as  modern  American  ideas  of  government  are 
held,  these  powers  will  never  be  intrusted  to  adminis- 
trative officers  or  boards  consisting  of  merely  a  few 
individuals  who  do  not  owe  their  election  to  the  peo- 
ple; who  are,  in  other  words,  not  representative  of  the 
municipality.  If  the  municipal  council  is  destroyed 
or,  what  is  practically  the  same  thing,  shorn  of  its 
powers,  such  powers  will  not  be  conferred  upon  ad- 
ministrative officers  or  boards,  but  will  be  exercised 
by  the  legislature  of  the  state,  which  is  generally  re- 
garded as  more  representative  in  character  than  these 
boards  or  officers  ever  can  be. 

The  destruction  of  the  municipal  "council  means, 
therefore,  not  the  destruction  of  the  council  or  repre- 
sentative idea  of  government,  but  merely  the  transfer 
of  local  legislative  powers  to  a  central  legislative 
body.  The  more  important  the  city  council,  the  less 
important  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  position  of  the 
legislature  as  the  organ  which  is  to  determine  the  pol- 
icy of  the  municipality.  This  seems  to  have  been  the 
argument  which  appealed  particularly  to  the  commis- 
sions of  1897  and  1900 ;  the  one  for  the  preparation, 

151 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


the  other  for  the  revision,  of  the  charter  of  Greater 
New  York. 

The  third  argument  which  is  advanced  in  favor  of 
the  council  is  to  the  efiPect  that  only  where  it  exists  is 
it  possible  to  keep  politics  out  of  the  city  administra- 
tion. This  argument  has  taken  two  somewhat  differ- 
ent forms.  The  first  is  one  upon  which  Mr.  Eaton 
lays  great  emphasis.  His  contention  is  that  a  council 
may  be  a  non-partizan  body ;  a  mayor  never  can  be. 
He  says :  ^  "  Save  in  very  rare  cases  of  a  non-partizan 
uprising  and  union  for  municipal  reform  a  mayor  will 
be  not  the  representative  of  the  city  or  its  people  as 
a  whole,  but  only  of  some  party  majority.  Such  an 
election  would  increase  party  power  and  would  tend 
to  perpetuate  city  party  domination.  ...  It  is  plain 
that  a  true  council  is  in  its  nature  a  non-partizan  body, 
*  because  one  in  which,  ...  all  parties,  interests  and 
sentiments  of  importance  will  be  represented.  To 
increase  the  authority  of  the  mayor  is,  therefore,  to 
increase  the  power  of  party  in  the  city  government, 
while  to  increase  the  authority  of  the  council  is  to 
augment  the  influence  of  the  non-partizan  and  inde- 
pendent elements  among  the  people.  The  issue  be- 
tween predominating  powers  in  the  mayor  and  pre- 
dominating powers  in  the  council  is,  consequently,  but 
another  form  of  the  issue  between  party  government 
and  non-partizan  government  in  cities — between  gov- 
ernment by  party  opinion  through  partizan  officers, 
and  government  by  public  opinion  through  non-parti- 
zan officers." 

The  other  form  which  this  argument  takes  is  that 
* ' '  The  Government  of  Municipalities, ' '  p.  252. 

152 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


the  existence  of  the  council  is  necessary  if  we  desire 
in  our  municipal  administration  to  distinguish  politics 
—that  is,  the  function  of  determining  policy — from 
administration— that  is,  the  function  of  carrying  out 
policy  once  determined  upon.^  If  these  functions  are 
not  clearly  distinguished,  it  is  difficult  if  not  impossi- 
ble to  prevent  politics  from  affecting  administration, 
not  only  in  its  action  but  also  in  its  organization,  with 
the  result  that  qualifications  for  even  clerical  and 
technical  positions  in  the  public  service  soon  become 
political  in  character.  While  it  is  necessary  in  all 
governmental  organizations  to  separate  politics  from 
administration,  it  is  particularly  necessary  in  the  case 
of  municipal  government  on  account  of  the  technical 
character  of  a  large  part  of  municipal  administration. 
Positions  in  many  branches  of  municipal  activity 
must  be  filled  by  men  with  large  technical  knowledge 
if  the  work  of  the  city  is  to  be  carried  on  advantage- 
ously, and  our  past  experience,  not  only  with  regard 
to  municipal  administration,  but  also  with  regard  to 
the  national  and  state  administrations,  proves  that  if 
politics  are  allowed  to  influence  in  the  appointment  to 
such  technical  positions,  they  are  not  filled  by  compe- 
tent men. 

Under  the  former  charters  of  New  York  and 
Brooklyn,  the  mayor  and  executive  officers  exercised 
almost  all  municipal  powers,  both  legislative  and  ad- 
ministrative, not  assumed  by  the  legislature  of  the 
State.  The  heads  of  departments  in  these  cities  ceased 
altogether  to  be  permanent  in  tenure,  and  it  was  con- 
sidered almost  as  a  matter  of  political  principle  that 
'  See  Goodnow,  ' '  Municipal  Problems, ' '  p.  221  et  seq. 

153 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


each  incoming  mayor  should  appoint  new  incumbents. 
Indeed,  the  charters  of  both  cities  made  a  special 
point  of  permitting  each  mayor  to  secure  heads  of 
departments  who  would  represent  the  principles  on 
which  he  himself  was  elected  and  stood,  although  he 
was  given  no  continuing  power  of  removal. 

This  was  probably  necessary  in  order  to  make  such 
a  system  of  municipal  government  popular  in  char- 
acter ;  but  popular  government  was  thus  secured  at  the 
expense  of  the  highest  administrative  efficiency. 
What  was  really  done  by  such  an  arrangement  was 
to  create  a  municipal  council  in  a  new  form,  which 
did  not,  it  is  true,  possess  all  of  the  powers  of  the 
original  council,  but  which  did  actually  determine 
what  should  be  the  policy  of  the  city  so  far  as  that 
was  a  matter  for  local  determination.  The  great  de- 
fect of  such  an  arrangement  was  that  officers  who 
should  have  been  administrative  became  political  in 
character. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  both  practical  men  and  theorists 
in  the  United  States  are  tending  toward  a  partial 
rehabilitation  of  the  municipal  council.  American  ex- 
perience would  seem  then  to  be  in  accord  with  Euro- 
pean, so  far  as  concerns  the  propriety  of  the  exis- 
tence of  the  council  as  an  important  factor  in  the 
municipal  organization. 

Present  Position  of  City  Council.  It  is  difficult  to  say 
what  is  the  position  of  the  council  in  the  city  govern- 
ments of  the  United  States,  for  we  really  have  no 
system  of  city  government.  This  is  the  case  because 
of  the  different  laws  in  the  different  states,  and  of  the 

154 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


habit  in  some  states  of  issuing  special  charters  to 
special  cities.  At  the  same  time  it  is  almost  univer- 
sally the  case  that  the  law  recognizes  both  the  council 
and  the  mayor,  and  that  the  council  does  not  elect  the 
mayor.  Further,  the  general  rule  is  that  the  mayor 
appoints  the  heads  of  departments  with  the  approval 
of  the  council.  But  the  tendency  in  the  larger  cities 
is  to  vest  this  power  in  the  mayor  alone.  Finally, 
owing  to  the  special  and  detailed  character  of  mu- 
nicipal legislation  in  the  United  States,  the  council 
has  largely  lost  the  organizing  power  and  considerable 
legislative  power  which  has  been  assumed  by  the  state 
legislature. 

The  result  is  that  the  council  under  the  most  fa- 
vorable circumstances  is  all  but  shut  out  from  the  ex- 
ercise of  any  power  not  distinctly  legislative  in  char- 
acter—all executive  powers  being  vested  in  the  mayor 
and  executive  officers — and  that  it  is  often  much  lim- 
ited in  the  exercise  of  legislative  powers.  The  mere 
fact  that  the  charter  regulates  the  details  of  the  mu- 
nicipal organization  takes  away  an  important  power 
from  the  council.  Further,  the  legislature  is  also 
often  so  niggardly  in  its  grants  of  power,  particularly 
of  financial  power,  that  it  is  difficult  if  not  impossible 
for  the  council  to  exercise  its  legislative  power.  Fi- 
nally, in  some  states  the  legislature  puts  into  the 
charter  a  number  of  provisions  which  regulate  mat- 
ters of  local  police  or  vest  police  powers  in  the  mayor 
or  executive  departments,  while  in  almost  all  states 
the  mayor  possesses  a  veto  over  the  resolutions  of  the 
council  which  can  be  overcome  only  by  an  extraor- 
dinary majority  of  the  council. 

155 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Manner  of  Election.  Whatever  may  be  the  position 
and  powers  of  the  city  council  in  the  United  States  it 
is,  in  all  cases,  an  elective  body.  The  legislations  of 
the  different  states  differ,  however,  considerably  as  to 
the  details  of  election.  Either  one  of  two  general 
principles  is,  however,  adopted ;  that  is,  total  renewal 
or  partial  renewal.  By  the  first,  all  of  the  members  of 
the  council  are  elected  at  the  same  time.  This  is  the 
rule  which  has  been  adopted  generally  throughout  the 
United  States.  In  either  case  the  vote  may  be  by  gen- 
eral ticket  or  by  district  ticket.  In  case  it  is  by  the 
latter,  the  district  may  be  a  single  district,  or  it  may 
be  represented  by  a  number  of  council  members.  The 
single  district  is  the  rule.  The  purpose  of  the  adop- 
tion of  the  district  plan  is  to  secure  local  representa- 
tion or  minority  representation.  The  necessity  of 
securing  local  representation  is  present  only  in  the 
larger  and  somewhat  heterogeneous  cities.  In  these 
cities  some  recognition  of  locality  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary. In  the  smaller  cities  the  need  of  such  recognition 
is  hardly  felt,  if  it  is  felt  at  all.  In  all,  however,  it  is 
desirable  to  secure  minority  representation,  or,  at  any 
rate,  to  secure  in  the  council  an  opposing  minority. 
It  is  only  through  the  clash  of  diverse  opinions  that 
the  best  conclusions  as  to  any  matter  are  reached.  It 
is  impossible  to  secure  these  diverse  opinions  under  the 
general  ticket  system,  unless  some  system  of  minority 
representation  is  provided.  It  is  possible  to  secure  mi- 
nority representation  under  a  district  ticket,  although 
the  district  ticket  will  not  assure  it.  Thus,  in  New 
York,  under  a  single  district  system,  one  party  secured 
every  seat  in  the  city  council  at  the  election  of  1892. 

156 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


At  this  election  166,000  votes  elected  all  members  of 
the  council,  although  there  was  a  minority  vote  of 
nearly  100,000.  But  as  a  general  thing,  a  single  district 
system  will  secure  an  opposing  minority  in  the  council. 

The  possibility,  however,  that  minority  representa- 
tion will  not  be  secured  under  the  district  system,  and 
the  certainty  that  it  will  not  be  secured  under  a  gen- 
eral ticket  have  led  to  the  agitation  for  the  adoption 
of  some  system  of  minority  representation.  The  plans 
which  have  been  proposed  for  minority  representation 
may  be  classed  under  three  heads,  namely :  limited 
voting,  cumulative  voting,  and  proportional  represen- 
tation. Under  the  first,  a  voter  is  not  permitted  to 
vote  for  all  places  in  the  council  to  be  filled  at  the 
election.  This  plan  has  been  tried  in  Boston  and  in 
New  York.  There  are,  however,  serious  doubts  as  to 
its  constitutionality  under  the  ordinary  provisions  in 
the  American  state  constitutions,  and  it  has  generally 
been  abandoned  where  it  has  been  adopted.  For  un- 
der it  a  nomination  for  office  by  a  party  of  any  con- 
siderable strength  can  easily  be  made  equivalent  to 
an  election. 

Cumulative  voting  consists  in  giving  the  voter  as 
many  votes  as  there  are  places  to  be  filled,  and  in 
permitting  him  to  distribute  his  votes  as  he  sees  fit. 
It  has  been  adopted  in  the  Illinois  constitution  for 
elections  to  the  lower  house  of  the  state  legislature, 
and  may  be  adopted  by  any  city  for  its  council  elec- 
tions. This  method  is  probably  not  constitutional 
under  the  ordinary  American  state  constitution.  On 
the  whole  it  may  be  said  to  have  secured  the  rep- 
resentation of  minorities,  without  being  accompanied 

157 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED"  STATES 


by  such  serious  disadvantages  as  to  counterbalance 
the  advantage  of  securing  such  representation.  Un- 
der it,  however,  nomination  by  either  of  the  two  lead- 
ing political  parties  as  in  the  case  of  limited  voting  is 
practically  equal  to  election.  Further,  on  account  of 
plumping  the  votes,  cumulative  voting  may  result  in 
the  election  of  a  majority  of  the  candidates  by  a 
minority  of  the  voters.  Party  organization  and  disci- 
pline must  be  very  strong  to  secure  a  proper  represen- 
tation of  the  voters.  The  danger  of  plumping  may  be 
avoided  by  not  permitting  cumulation  of  votes  beyond 
a  certain  number.  In  the  case  of  a  council  election  this 
may  be  secured  by  the  abandonment  of  the  general 
ticket  and  the  establishment  of  districts  in  which  no 
more  than  three  or  five  members  are  to  be  elected.  Cu- 
mulative voting  is,  on  the  whole,  the  most  feasible  and 
workable  type  of  minority  representation  that  has  been 
devised,  because  although  it  will  not  probably  produce 
mathematically  exact  proportionality  in  representa- 
tion, it  is  the  easiest  to  operate,  and  its  dangers  being 
known  can  be  more  easily  guarded  against.^ 

The  third  system  of  minority  representation  is 
known  as  proportional  representation.^  The  most 
mathematically  exact  system  is  that  known  as  Hare's 
system,  and  is  used  in  some  of  the  elections  in  Den- 
mark. This  is,  however,  very  complicated,  and  is  on 
that  account  not  practicable  for  council  elections  in 
large  cities. 

'  The  system  of  cumulative  voting  is,  under  the  name  of 
' '  free  voting, ' '  strongly  advocated  by  Mr.  Eaton.  See  ' '  Gov- 
ernment of  Municipalities. ' ' 

^  See  Commons,  ' '  Proportional  Eepresentation. ' ' 

158 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


Another  system  has  been  adopted  in  Switzerland 
that  is  known  as  the  "free-list  system."  By  this  the 
voter  is  confined  to  the  candidates  put  in  nomination, 
and  must  vote  a  straight  party  ticket.  The  number 
of  votes  east  is  divided  by  the  number  of  candidates, 
the  result  being  known  as  the  electoral  quotient.  The 
number  of  votes  cast  by  each  party  is  divided  by  the 
electoral  quotient,  the  result  being  the  number  of  can- 
didates elected  by  each  party,  those  being  chosen  who 
stand  the  first  on  the  party  list.  In  the  case  of  frac- 
tions, left  over  after  such  division,  two  rules  have 
been  adopted :  One  gives  preference  to  the  party 
having  the  largest  fraction,  the  other,  to  the  party 
easting  the  highest  number  of  votes.  The  latter  is 
deemed  preferable,  inasmuch  as  the  system  of  "forced 
fractions,"  as  it  is  called,  often  leads,  where  few 
offices  are  to  be  filled,  to  the  election  of  a  majority  of 
the  candidates  by  a  minority  of  the  voters. 

Many  schemes  have  been  devised  for  varying  the 
details  of  this  general  system  to  meet  objections  such 
as  have  been  instanced.  They  all,  however,  compli- 
cate the  processes  of  election  and  justify  the  remark 
that  has  been  made  of  the  system  generally,  that  it 
would  be  difficult  to  convince  even  intelligent  voters 
that  the  announced  results  of  the  election  carried  on 
under  the  system  were  in  conformity  with  the  actual 
votes  cast.  A  further  objection  to  the  scheme  of  pro- 
portional representation  is,  that  even  if  the  results 
claimed  by  its  advocates  were  actually  produced,  the 
body  elected  under  it  would  be  a  debating  society 
rather  than  a  body  capable  of  political  action.  What 
is  desired  by  minority  representation  is  not  so  much 

159 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


a  body  in  which  every  shade  of  existing  opinion  is 
represented,  as  a  body  which,  while  possessing  a  ma- 
jority capable  of  political  action,  has,  at  the  same 
time,  a  minority  capable  of  opposing  and  causing  a 
modification  of  the  results  desired  by  the  majority. 
Such  a  result  is  secured  ordinarily  both  by  the  single 
district  system  and  by  the  system  of  cumulative 
voting.  A  system  based  on  districts  sending  from 
three  to  five  representatives,  elected  by  cumulative 
voting,  would  seem  to  avoid  the  disadvantage  of  the 
single  district  system,  that  is,  the  rather  inferior  char- 
acter of  the  men  often  chosen  when  that  system  is 
adopted  and  at  the  same  time  to  make  impossible  the 
excessive  cumulation  of  votes  which  is  possible  where 
a  large  number  of  places  are  to  be  filled  by  cumulative 
voting. 

Term  of  Members  of  City  Council.  The  term  of  the 
council  members  has  a  close  connection  with  the 
subject  which  has  just  been  considered.  If  the  prin- 
ciple of  partial  renewal  is  adopted,  the  term  is  two, 
three,  or  four  years,  so  that  the  council  may  be  re- 
newed by  halves,  by  thirds,  or  by  fourths.  \Vhere  the 
principle  of  total  renewal  at  one  election  is  adopted, 
the  usual  term  in  the  United  States  while  varying 
from  one  year,  as  in  Boston,  to  four  years,  as  in  St. 
Louis,  averages  two  years,  as  in  New  York.  Finally, 
the  council  sometimes  consists  of  different  classes  of 
members,  if  it  is  not  divided  into  two  chambers.  The 
general  rule,  however,  is,  that  it  consists  of  one 
chamber.^ 

•  Fairlie,  ' '  Municipal  Administration, ' '  p.  377. 
160 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


A  word  should  be  said  as  to  the  size  of  the  council 
before  closing  what  is  to  be  said  concerning  its  com- 
position. There  is  very  little  agreement  as  to  this 
matter.  The  number  varies  from  187,  the  number  of 
the  members  of  the  two  chambers  in  Philadelphia,  to 
20,  the  number  in  St.  Paul  and  Cleveland.* 

Special  qualifications  for  membership  in  the  coun- 
cil are  sometimes  required.  Sometimes  they  do  not 
permit  of  the  election  of  every  voter  and,  sometimes, 
though  not  often,  they  permit  of  the  election  of  per- 
sons who  are  not  voters.  The  usual  qualification,  if 
one  is  required  in  addition  to  that  of  the  right  to  vote, 
is  a  property  one,  which  may  be  evidenced  either  by 
the  payment  of  taxes  or  the  ownership  of  property. 
Such  qualifications  are  usually  regarded  as  constitu- 
tional under  the  ordinary  provisions  of  the  American 
state  constitutions,  although  they  are  not,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  so  common  in  the  United  States  as  in  Europe. 
As  a  general  thing,  every  voter  is  qualified. 

Powers  of  City  Council.  The  powers  of  the  council 
depend,  first,  upon  the  relation  of  the  city  to  the  state  ; 
and,  second,  on  the  relations  of  the  council  to  the  ex- 
ecutive authorities  of  the  city. 

If  the  state  has  adopted  the  plan  of  granting  gen- 
eral powers  of  local  government  to  the  city,  as  is  the 
case  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  and  in  one  or  two 
states  of  the  United  States,  the  council,  as  the  princi- 
pal authority  for  their  exercise,  has  very  wide  powers. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  state  enumerates  the  powers 
of  the  city,  as  it  generally  does  in  England  and  the 
'  Ibid.,  p.  378. 
"  161 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


United  States,  the  extent  of  the  powers  of  the  council 
is  determined  by  the  extent  of  the  enumerated  powers 
granted.  In  the  United  States,  where  the  practice  has 
been  based  on  special  municipal  corporations  acts, 
which  has  had  the  effect  of  making  such  general  acts 
as  have  been  passed  very  detailed  in  character,  the 
powers  granted  to  the  council  are  comparatively  small 
in  extent. 

If  the  system  of  municipal  government  adopted 
recognizes  the  existence  of  other  municipal  authorities 
than  the  council,  as  it  does  almost  everywhere  in  the 
United  States,  the  council  loses  in  power,  either  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  fact  that  participation  of  the  executive  au- 
thorities is  necessary  to  valid  action  by  the  council,  or 
because  powers  conferred  upon  the  city  are  to  be  exer- 
cised by  the  executive  authorities  and  not  by  the 
council.  In  the  United  States  the  council  often  has 
little  administrative  power  and  has  to  share  the  exer- 
cise of  the  local  legislative  power  with  the  executive, 
which  has  always  the  right  to  veto  council  ordinances, 
and  sometimes  exercises  alone  the  local  legislative 
power. 

As  a  result  of  these  conditions  we  find  that  the 
power  of  determining  the  details  of  the  municipal  or- 
ganization is  not  possessed  by  the  council  except  in 
rare  instances.  Chicago  is  an  instance  of  a  city  whose 
council  has  large  organizing  powers.  Generally  this 
power  has  been  exercised  by  the  legislature  by  fixing 
the  details  in  the  charter  or  statutes  governing  the 
city.  This  is  the  case  in  New  York.  Further,  the  only 
power  of  appointment  commonly  possessed  by  the 
council  in  the  larger  cities  is  to  confirm  the  appoint- 

162 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


Dients  of  the  mayor,  and  even  this  power  is  not  pos- 
sessed by  the  council  in  the  largest  cities.  In  the 
smaller  cities  the*  council  often  appoints  city  officers. 
The  council  is  very  commonly  presided  over  by  the 
mayor,  although  it  is  frequently  the  case  that  it  elects 
its  own  president.  In  New  York  the  presiding  officer 
of  the  council,  that  is,  the  president  of  the  board  of 
aldermen,  is  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city  in  the 
same  manner  as  is  the  mayor.  The  council  usually, 
however,  elects  the  other  officers  necessary  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  its  powers. 

As  a  general  rule  elections  to  the  council  are  de- 
termined by  some  state  court,  either  in  final  or  in 
original  instance.  In  some  cases  the  council  deter- 
mines the  matter  in  first  instance  with  appeal  in 
proper  form  to  the  courts.  In  very  rare  instances  the 
determination  of  the  council  is  final. 

The  city  council  in  the  United  States  seldom  fixes 
its  own  rules  of  procedure.  The  charter  usually  con- 
tains provisions  relative  to  the  number  of  members 
who  shall  constitute  a  quorum,  the  majority  required 
to  pass  a  resolution,  which  is  often  greater  than  an 
ordinary  majority,  particularly  in  cases  involving  the 
expenditure  of  money,  or  relating  to  the  property  of 
the  city;  the  amount  of  deliberation  necessary  to  the 
validity  of  the  action  of  the  council,  such  as  the  num- 
ber of  readings  of  council  bills,  etc.  All  such  pro- 
visions must  be  observed,  else  the  action  of  the  coun- 
cil will  be  invalid. 

Outside  of  the  power  of  determining  the  details  of 
municipal  organization,  the  powers  of  city  councils 
may  be  classed  as:  first,  ordinance  power;  second, 

163 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


power  to  determine  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity, 
and  third,  financial  power. 

Ordinance  Power  of  Council.  By  this  power  is 
meant  the  power  to  lay  down  rules  of  conduct  which 
are  binding  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  city.  During 
the  middle  ages  this  power  embraced  a  much  wider 
field  than  now.  At  present  the  state  legislature 
fixes  most  of  the  rules  of  conduct  which  must  be  ob- 
served by  the  citizen  in  his  ordinary  life,  and  leaves 
to  the  city  merely  the  power  to  regulate  some  of  those 
relations,  which,  as  the  result  of  the  presence  of  a 
large  population,  need  regulation  of  a  special  char- 
acter. The  power  is  usually  referred  to  as  the  power 
of  police  ordinance.  In  the  United  States  the  power 
of  ordinance  is,  by  the  theory  of  the  law,  vested  in 
the  council.  Indeed,  by  the  common  law  of  England 
and  the  United  States  the  council  has  the  right  to 
issue  such  ordinances  merely  as  the  result  of  the  in- 
corporation of  the  city.  This  implied  ordinance  power 
is  the  one  important  exception  to  the  Anglo-American 
rule  of  the  enumeration  of  municipal  powers.  Gen- 
eral grants  of  ordinance  power  often  are  also  ex- 
pressly conferred  upon  cities. 

The  theory  of  the  American  law  that  police-ordi- 
nance power  is  conferred  by  general  grant,  either  ex- 
press or  implied,  to  the  city  council,  is,  however, 
largely  departed  from  in  practice  in  the  United  States. 
It  is  often  the  case  that  the  subjects  which  may  be 
regulated  are  enumerated  in  the  charter  in  great  de- 
tail, when  it  is  usually  held,  applying  the  principle  that 
"the  mention  of  the  one  excludes  the  other,"  that  the 

164 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


authority  in  which  such  powers  are  vested  may  take 
action  only  as  to  the  enumerated  subjects.  The  effect 
of  the  long  enumerations  found  in  many  of  the  mu- 
nicipal charters  is,  therefore,  usually  a  limitation  of 
the  common-law  powers  of  the  ordinance  authorities. 
The  only  effect  that  such  enumeration  has  upon  the 
police-ordinance  power  is  that  the  courts  may  not,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  exercise  of  the  common-law-ordi- 
nance powers,  declare  void  an  ordinance  on  the 
ground  of  its  unreasonableness.  The  reasonableness 
of  the  regulation  is  regarded,  in  the  case  of  an  ordi- 
nance passed  as  a  result  of  the  exercise  of  an  express 
power  of  ordinance,  as  settled  by  the  legislature.  Fi- 
nally, as  has  been  pointed  out,  many  charters  in  the 
United  States  vest  the  ordinance  power  not  in  the 
council  but  in  some  executive  municipal  authority,  or 
take  it  away  from  all  municipal  authorities  by  regu- 
lating the  matter  in  their  own  provisions. 

"Where  a  general  police-ordinance  power  is  vested 
in  a  city  council,  the  law  of  the  United  States  often 
derives  powers  from  it  which  are  not,  in  our  classifi- 
cation, included  within  it.  For  example,  the  power  to 
establish  municipal  waterworks,  as  having  an  impor- 
tant bearing  upon  the  public  health,  and  the  power 
to  establish  municipal  electric-light  works,  which  dis- 
tribute the  electric  light  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  city, 
as  having  an  important  influence  upon  the  safety  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  have  been  derived  either 
from  the  general -health  or  police-ordinance  powers,  or 
merely  from  the  general-ordinance  powers  of  the  city 
council. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  original  American 
165 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


method  by  which  the  ordinance  power  is  vested  in 
the  council  is  the  preferable  method.  Where  an  ordi- 
nance is  made  by  an  executive  authority  there  is  gen- 
erally no  debate,  and  its  passage  is  not  subjected  to 
publicity.  The  ordinance  can,  therefore,  receive  no 
criticism  until  it  is  placed  upon  the  statute  books.  Mr. 
Eaton  says  of  the  sanitary  code  of  New  York  city,  the 
original  of  which,  consisting  of  165  ordinances,  he 
himself  drafted,  "that  with  very  small  changes  they 
were  adopted  by  the  board  [of  health]  without  any 
hearing  or  consent  on  the  part  of  any  other  city  au- 
thority or  even  of  the  city  itself"  notwithstanding 
that  they  profoundly  affected  "many  important  pri- 
vate interests  and  rights  as  well  as  the  duties  of  many 
city  officers  outside  of  the  board."  ^ 

The  worst  method  is  the  one  adopted  in  many 
American  cities  where  "the  ordinance-making  power 
is  distributed  between  limited  councils,  commissions, 
boards,  and  single  officers.  Much  conflict,  confusion, 
and  needless  litigation  are  the  inevitable  result,  as 
there  would  be  concerning  the  laws  if  there  were  sev- 
eral law-making  bodies  in  the  same  state.  Ordinances 
which  all  citizens  must  obey  certainly  ought  to  be 
enacted  by  a  competent  body  having  general  city  ju- 
risdiction after  public  debate  and  a  consideration  of 
the  needs  of  all  official  departments  and  all  business 
interests,  but  quite  generally  in  American  cities,  by 
reason  of  the  lack  of  any  competent  council,  ordi- 
nances are  made  in  a  semi-secret  manner  by  some  au- 
thority— some  commission,  board,  or  officer  having  only 
a  limited  jurisdiction — without  conferring  with  those 
'"The  Government  of  Municipalities,"  p.  263. 

166 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


at  the  head  of  other  parts  of  the  administration,  or  even 
the  hearing  of  representatives  of  the  city  or  its  people. 
Besides,  large  parts  of  the  administration  are  not  regu- 
lated by  ordinances  at  all  as  justice  and  good  admin- 
istration require  they  should  be,  for  where  good  ordi- 
nances end,  in  municipal  administration,  despotic  or 
corrupt  official  favoritism  generally  begins. ' '  ^ 

In  many  of  the  smaller  cities  in  the  United  States 
the  council  has,  in  addition  to  the  power  of  general 
ordinance,  the  power  to  make  special  orders  of  indi- 
vidual application,  such  as  nuisance-removal  orders. 
But  in  the  larger  cities  the  power  to  make  such  special 
orders  of  individual  application  is  usually  vested  in 
the  mayor  or  some  one  of  the  executive  departments, 
particularly  the  health  department. 

Power  to  Determine  the  Sphere  of  llllunicipal  Activity. 

By  this  power  is  meant  the  power  to  establish  and 
carry  on  services  for  the  benefit  of  the  municipal  in- 
habitants. The  continental  cities  have  this  power  ex- 
cept so  far  as  the  gTound  has  been  occupied  by  the 
state  or  some  other  governmental  authority  with  the 
permission  of  the  state.  They  have  this  pov/er  as  a 
result  of  the  grant  to  them  of  general  powers  of  local 
government.  As  the  result  of  the  possession  of  such 
a  power  the  continental  city  may,  if  its  financial  re- 
sources permit,  provide  for  supplying  its  citizens  with 
water,  gas,  light,  and  electricity,  and  for  intra-urban 
transportation.  It  may  do  this  by  entering  into  such 
contract,  as  it  deems  proper,  with  some  private  corpo- 
ration, which  is  the  actual  practice  throughout  France, 
>  Ibid.,  p.  262. 
167 


CITY  governmp:nt  in  the  united  states 


or  it  may  establisli  and  operate  the  necessary  plant 
itself,  as  is  frequently  the  case  in  Germany.  It  may 
provide  insurance  against  fire  for  its  citizens,  which 
is  quite  common  in  Germany,  and  may  establish  insti- 
tiitions  for  loaning  money  to  those  in  need  of  tempo- 
rary pecuniary  help,  as  is  done  in  France  by  means 
of  the  monts  de  piete.  It  may  establish  free  libraries 
and  playgrounds  and  conduct  theaters  and  concerts  for 
the  instruction,  recreation,  and  amusement  of  its  in- 
habitants. 

All  these  things  the  continental  city  may  do  without 
applying  to  the  legislature  for  a  grant  of  the  power  to 
do  the  special  thing  it  desires  to  do;  and  it  does  all 
these  things,  not  as  an  agent  of  the  state  as  it  does  when 
caring  for  the  schools,  poor,  and  police,  but  as  an  or- 
ganization for  the  satisfaction  of  the  local  needs  of 
its  inhabitants.  When  it  acts  as  agent  of  the  state  it 
is  subject  to  the  control  of  the  state  whose  interests  are 
affected  by  its  action.  When  acting  as  an  organiza- 
tion for  the  satisfaction  of  local  needs  it  acts  free 
from  all  central  control,  except  such  as  is  exercised 
over  the  financial  powers  whose  exercise  is  necessitated 
by  the  use  of  its  material  powers,  if  we  may  call  them 
by  this  name. 

In  England  and  the  United  States  conditions  are 
quite  different.  As  has  been  pointed  out,  the  English 
and  American  cities  are  not  endowed  with  general 
powers  of  local  government,  but  may  act  only  where 
it  is  the  evident  intention  of  the  legislature  to  permit 
them  to  act.  In  England  it  is  true  the  laws  of  parlia- 
ment passed  during  the  nineteenth  century  granted 
to  the  cities  very  wide  freedom  of  action,  because  of 

168 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


both  their  number  and  the  extent  of  the  subjects  which 
they  regulated;  but  even  in  England  it  cannot  be  said 
that  either  as  a  matter  of  law  or  of  practice  the 
sphere  of  municipal  activity  is  as  broad  as  it  is  on  the 
Continent.  Where,  however,  the  English  city  may 
act,  it  is  the  council  as  the  only  legally  recognized  au- 
thority in  the  city  government  which  acts. 

In  the  United  States  the  acts  of  the  state  legislature 
have  not  granted  so  wide  powers  to  the  cities  even 
as  in  England,  and  the  practice  is,  whenever  it  is  de- 
sired to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity,  for 
an  appeal  to  be  made  to  the  legislature  for  the  neces- 
sary power.  Further,  the  powers  which  are  granted 
to  the  city  are  granted  frequently  not  to  the  council 
but  to  the  executive  authority.  This  has  been  particu- 
larly true  of  the  city  of  New  York  during  the  last 
thirty  years  where  the  board  of  estimate  and  appor- 
tionment or  some  other  executive  aiithority  has,  as  a 
result  of  special  legislation,  to  exercise  the  powers 
granted  to  the  city,  by  means  of  which  the  sphere  of 
New  York's  activity  has  been  increased.  The  only 
possible  exception  to  the  rule  of  the  narrow  powers  of 
the  American  city  councils  is  to  be  found  in  the  case 
of  councils  which  possess  a  general  police  power. 
This,  it  has  been  shown,  has  in  some  cases  been  given 
a  very  wide  expansion. 

Financial  Powers  of  City  Council.  These  powers  re- 
late to  city  property  and  city  taxes  and  city  indebted- 
•ness.  As  a  general  rule  the  financial  powers  of  all 
cities  everywhere  are  either  enumerated  or  subjected 
to  pretty  strict  central  control.    This  principle  of 

169 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


state  control  over  municipal  financial  powers  seems  to 
have  been  adopted  as  a  result  of  the  apparently  in- 
herent tendency  of  municipal  corporations  to  be  ex- 
travagant. We  find  traces  of  such  a  control  in  the 
early  days  of  the  Roman  Empire,  where  the  emperors 
appointed  curators  whose  principal  duty  was  to  pre- 
vent extravagant  management  of  municipal  property. 
One  of  the  main  reasons  why  the  Crown  imposed  its 
control  upon  the  cities  in  France  and  Germany  during 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  was  to  pre- 
vent them  from  running  into  debt  and  from  wasting 
their  property.  In  England,  however,  the  central 
control  over  the  finances  of  cities,  apart  from  the  ex- 
ercise of  the  taxing  power,  was  not  introduced  until 
the  nineteenth  century,  while  in  the  United  States  the 
same  century  saw  the  introduction  not  merely  of  limi- 
tations on  the  financial  powers  of  cities,  but  also  upon 
the  power  of  the  legislature  to  grant  to  cities  financial 
powers.  Such,  for  example,  are  the  common  limita- 
tions found  in  the  American  state  constitutions  upon 
the  municipal  tax  rate  and  municipal  indebtedness. 

So  far  as  concerns  municipal  property  the  rule  is 
that  municipal  property  devoted  to  the  public  use  is 
inalienable.  Thus  it  has  been  held  that  without 
special  legislative  authorization  a  municipality  may 
not  alienate  public  municipal  property  such  as  its 
streets,  parks,  or  waterworks.  Private  municipal 
property,  i.e.,  property  not  devoted  to  a  public  use, 
such  as  lands  or  houses  rented  by  the  city,  may  be 
alienated  even  involuntarily.  That  is,  sale  on  execu- 
tion to  satisfy  a  judgment  against  the  city  is  permitted 
where  there  is  no  statute  to  the  contrary.    The  man- 

170 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


agoment  of  city  property  is  commonly  subjected  to 
the  control  of,  if  it  is  not  absolutely  vested  in,  the 
executive. 

So  far  as  taxes  are  concerned,  it  would  seem  to  be 
the  universal  rule  that  no  city  has  any  inherent  right 
to  levy  taxes.  The  taxing  power  is  distinctly  govern- 
mental in  character,  and  can  be  exercised  by  a  city 
only  as  a  result  of  the  fact  that  this  power  has  been 
clearly  granted  to  the  city  by  the  state.  This  rule  has 
two  important  effects :  First,  no  city  has  any  general 
taxing  power ;  that  is,  no  city  may  impose  any  kind 
of  taxes  which  it  has  not  been  permitted  by  the  legis- 
lature to  impose.  The  legislature  sometimes  grants  to 
cities  such  a  general  power  of  taxation.  As  a  general 
thing,  however,  a  city's  power  of  taxation,  so  far  as 
the  kind  of  the  tax  is  concerned,  consists  of  the  power 
to  add  a  percentage  to  the  state  tax  on  general  prop- 
erty, or  to  certain  specified  state  taxes.  There  are, 
however,  exceptions  to  this  rule.  Thus,  in  some  of  the 
states  of  the  United  States,  as  for  example,  Pennsyl- 
vania and  New  York,  the  cities  levy  their  taxes  on 
land  or  on  property  while  the  state  gets  its  revenue 
from  other  sources.  In  all  the  states  a  large  amount  of 
revenue  comes  from  assessments  for  local  improve- 
ments of  supposed  benefit  to  the  property  on  which 
they  are  imposed.  These  are  technically  distinguished 
in  many  ways  from  taxes.  For  example,  as  a  general 
rule,  current  expenses  are  defrayed  from  the  receipts 
from  taxes,  while  permanent  improvements  of  pecu- 
liar benefit  to  certain  property  are  paid  for  by  the 
special  assessments  laid  on  such  property.  This  dis- 
tinction is  not,  however,  always  observed.  Particu- 

171 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


larly  is  it  the  ease  in  a  number  of  the  Western  cities 
that  current  expenses  are  defrayed  from  the  pro- 
ceeds of  assessments  and  not  from  those  of  taxes. 

The  second  effect  of  this  rule  is  that  no  city  can  levy 
taxes  beyond  the  amount  fixed  in  the  law,  nor  for  pur- 
poses for  which  provision  is  not  made  in  the  law.  The 
rate  of  city  taxation  is  often  in  the  United  States  fixed 
by  the  legislature  or  by  the  state  constitution,  in  which 
case  the  legislature  may  not  authorize  any  excess. 
The  limitation  of  purpose  is  not  so  common  as  the 
limitation  of  rate;  but, by  the  law  of  the  United  States, 
city  taxes  are  always  limited  to  public,  and  in  many 
cases  further,  to  municipal  purposes.  The  character 
of  the  purpose  is  determined  by  the  courts,  which  in 
their  decisions  have  laid  down  rules  which  preclude 
the  American  cities  from  making  use  of  the  taxing 
power  for  a  number  of  purposes  for  which  it  is  used 
in  Europe.  Thus  taxes  may  not  be  levied  in  the 
United  States  for  the  support  of  private  schools,  for 
aiding  the  inhabitants  to  rebuild  their  property  in 
case  of  fire,  for  aiding  in  establishing  a  local  industry, 
and  so  on.  It  is  doubtful  whether  a  city  may  make 
even  an  indirect  use  of  its  taxing  power  for  a  private 
purpose,  as  by  spending  money  to  provide  insurance 
against  fire,  as  is  quite  common  in  Germany. 

Where  taxing  powers  are  given,  they  are  commonly 
vested  in  the  council,  so  far  as  concerns  their  exercise 
for  purely  local  purposes.  In  a  number  of  cities  in 
the  United  States,  however,  the  taxing  power  is  vested 
in  the  executive  officers,  as  is  the  case  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  Here,  an  executive  board,  called  the  board 
of  estimate  and  apportionment,  really  exercises  the 

172 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


taxing  power,  in  that  it  practically  determines  the 
amount  of  the  appropriations  which  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  board  of  aldermen  to  raise  by  the  levy  of  taxes. 

Where,  however,  the  taxing  power  is  granted  for 
the  purpose  of  obtaining  money  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  those  branches  of  administration  in  which  the  city 
acts  as  the  agent  of  the  state,  the  power  is  ultimately 
exercised  by  no  city  authority.  It  is  true  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  tax-levying  authority  in  the  city,  whether 
it  be  the  council  or  the  executive,  to  levy  the  taxes 
necessary  for  these  purposes  of  government,  but  if 
such  authority  neglects  or  refuses  to  do  its  duty,  the 
exercise  of  the  taxing  power  may  be  forced  by  the 
courts.  This,  however,  may  be  an  ineffective  remedy, 
since  it  is  usually  available  only  in  case  of  the  appli- 
cation of  a  private  individual,  and  since,  in  many  in- 
stances, the  court  can  do  no  more  than  punish  the  tax 
authority  for  not  doing  its  duty.  It  may  not  itself 
perform  the  neglected  duty. 

The  power  to  incur  debts,  the  last  of  the  financial 
powers  of  the  city,  is  treated  somewhat  more  liberally 
than  the  other  financial  powers.  Cities  almost  every- 
where possess  the  power  to  incur  debts  as  a  result  of 
the  fact  of  their  being  corporations.  The  courts  in 
the  United  States,  however,  make  a  distinction  be- 
tween the  power  to  incur  debts,  the  power  to  borrow 
money,  and  the  power  to  issue  negotiable  instruments, 
such  as  bonds.  The  better  rule  would  seem  to  be  that 
cities  do  not  possess  the  power  to  issue  negotiable 
bonds  unless  they  have  been  expressly  or  impliedly 
authorized  to  do  so  by  the  legislature.  As  a  general 
thing,  however,  all  three  powers  are  granted  by  the 

173 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


legislature  subject  to  limitations.  These  limitations 
are  to  be  found  in  the  statutes  or  the  constitutions, 
and  the  courts  are  pretty  strict  in  holding  the  corpo- 
ration up  to  the  law,  giving  a  wide  interpretation  to 
the  words  "debt"  or  "indebtedness"  where  they  oc- 
cur in  the  limiting  clauses  of  the  statutes  or  the  con- 
stitutions. Further,  the  courts  apply  to  the  power  to 
incur  debt  the  same  rules  which  they  apply  to  the 
taxing  power,  holding  void  attempts  to  incur  debts 
for  other  than  public  purposes,  on  the  ground  that 
these  debts  must  be  paid  for  out  of  the  proceeds  of 
taxation,  and  that  therefore  the  taxing  power  is  ex- 
ercised on  the  occasion  of  the  exercise  of  the  power  to 
incur  indebtedness. 

In  a  few  instances  debts  for  certain  purposes,  as  e.g., 
for  waterworks,  may  be  incurred  even  if  the  constitu- 
tional limit  has  been  reached.  This  is  so  in  New  York. 
It  has  been  proposed  to  give  this  principle  a  much 
wider  application  by  providing  that  debts  incurred 
for  profitable  undertakings  such  as  water  and  gas- 
works and  electric-light  works  shall  not  be  included 
in  the  calculation  as  to  the  amount  of  indebtedness 
which  may  be  constitutionally  incurred. ^  This  plan 
has  not,  however,  been  received  with  great  favor. 

In  all  these  cases  the  power  to  incur  debts  is  vested 
in  the  council  or  the  executive  authorities  of  the  city 
in  accordance  with  the  position  which  has  been  as- 
signed to  these  bodies.  The  council  must,  ordinarily, 
take  action,  but  the  executive  must,  in  nearly  all  cases, 
participate  as  a  result  of  his  power  of  veto.  In  some 
eases,  as  in  New  York  under  the  present  charter,  the 
'See  "A  Municipal  Program,"  pp.  59,  111. 
174 


THE  CITY  COUNCIL 


power  is  exercised  by  the  board  of  estimate  and  ap- 
portionment, the  board  of  aldermen  having  no  veto 
upon  the  exercise  of  the  power  in  certain  instances, 
and  in  no  instance  having  the  power  to  disapprove 
unless  it  disapproves  within  six  weeks  after  action  by 
the  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment,  when  its 
disapproval  is  subject  to  the  veto  power  of  the  mayor. 

It  is  seldom  that  the  council  is  subject  in  the  exer- 
cise of  its  powers  to  a  central  administrative  control. 
The  judicial  and  legislative  control  are  believed  to  be 
sufficient.  Thus  it  may  pass  such  ordinances  as  it  sees 
fit  within  the  limits  of  the  law.  When  passed,  such 
ordinances  are  valid  without  the  approval  of  any  ad- 
ministrative authority,  but  may  be  declared  invalid 
by  the  courts  because  in  violation  of  law,  or,  in  certain 
cases,  because  unreasonable. 


175 


CHAPTER  VIII 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVIE^ 

Position  of  Mayor.  In  the  ordinary  American  city 
charter  the  mayor,  who  is  with  hardly  an  exception 
elected  by  the  people  of  the  city,  is  styled  the  chief 
executive  of  the  city  government.  In  and  of  itself 
this  phrase  means  very  little.  The  grant  of  the  execu- 
tive power  to  the  mayor  confers  really  very  little 
power  upon  him.  What  his  powers  are  and  what  his 
position  in  the  city  government  consequently  is,  de- 
pend upon  the  enumerated  powers  which  the  charter 
says  he  may  exercise.  His  real  position  in  the  city 
government  is  determined  also  by  the  length  of  his 
term  and  by  the  relations  which  the  provisions  of  the 
charter  permit  him  to  establish  with  the  other  admin- 
istrative officers.  Thus,  a  power  of  appointment  of 
other  city  officers,  unaccompanied  by  the  powder  of  re- 
moval, will  not  give  the  mayor  a  strong  position  where 
the  terms  of  these  other  officers  are  not  identical  with 
his  own  term.  Such  a  power  may,  where  these  terms 
of  office  are  not  identical  with  his  own  term,  put  him 
in  the  position  merely  of  being  able  to  fill  the  vacan- 
cies in  office  which  occur  during  his  incumbency  of  the 

*  Authorities :  The  same  as  for  the  preceding  chapter. 
176 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


mayoralty.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  terms  of  the 
officers  whom  he  appoints  are  identical  with  his  term, 
he  can,  at  the  commencement  of  his  term,  fill  the  sub- 
ordinate offices  with  appointees  of  his  own,  and  will 
thus  have  the  power  to  mould  the  whole  city  adminis- 
tration to  suit  his  own  ideas. 

The  mere  fact  then  that  most  American  city  char- 
ters vest  the  chief  executive  power  in  the  mayor  does 
not  bring  it  about  that  the  mayors  of  most  American 
cities  occupy  the  same  or  even  a  similar  position. 
Indeed,  the  mayor  occupies  a  very  varying  position  in 
the  different  states  of  the  American  union  and  in 
many  cases  even  in  the  cities  of  the  same  state.  As  a 
result,  further,  of  the  fact  that  many  city  charters 
make  provision  for  other  city  executive  or  adminis- 
trative authorities  separate  and  apart  from  the  mayor, 
a  consideration  merely  of  the  mayor  will  not  give  us 
an  adequate  idea  of  the  city  executive.  We  must  treat 
at  some  length  as  well  of  the  city  executive  depart- 
ments as  they  are  frequently  called. 

Taking  up,  in  the  first  place,  the  position  of  the 
mayor  we  notice  that  in  some  instances  he  is  little 
more  than  a  presiding  officer  of  the  city  council  with 
a  casting  vote  in  case  of  a  tie  vote  by  the  council.  This 
is  his  position,  particularly  in  the  smaller  cities 
throughout  the  country.  In  a  number  of  other  cities 
the  mayor  has,  either  in  addition  to  the  power  of  east- 
ing a  vote  in  the  case  of  a  tie,  or  in  place  thereof,  a 
veto  power  over  the  resolutions  of  the  council  and  in 
some  cases  over  items  therein.  The  mayor's  veto 
may  generally  be  overcome  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of 
the  council.  In  these  cities  the  subordinate  officers 
12  177 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


are  for  the  most  part  elected  by  the  people  in  the  same 
way  as  the  mayor  or  are  appointed  by  the  council. 
In  this  class  of  cities  we  have  practically  a  council 
system  of  government  which  is  only  modified  by  the 
fact  that  the  mayor  has  a  qualified  veto  power.  This 
system  of  government  sometimes  approaches  the  in- 
dependent board  system  because  of  the  fact  that  the 
subordinate  executive  officers  are  frequently  elected 
by  the  people.  In  these  cities  the  position  of  the 
mayor  is  consequently  a  comparatively  unimportant 
one. 

In  a  second  class  of  cities,  which  probably  embrace 
the  majority  of  American  cities,  we  find  the  mayor 
having  considerable  power  of  appointing  the  other 
officers  in  the  city  government.  These  powers,  how- 
ever, he  can  exercise  only  with  the  approval  of  the 
council.  In  these  cities  the  officers  so  appointed  are 
usually  appointed  for  a  fixed  term  which  is  not  iden- 
tical with  that  of  the  mayor.  They  may  not  com- 
monly be  removed  except  for  cause  or  except  with  the 
concurrence  of  the  council,  and  often  only  in  case 
of  both  of  these  contingencies.  In  this  class  of  cities 
the  position  of  the  mayor  is  somewhat  more  important 
than  it  is  in  the  class  just  mentioned.  At  the  same 
time  even  here  the  mayor  is  not  the  chief  executive 
officer  in  the  sense  that  he  is  the  superior  of  the  other 
municipal  officers  with  powers  of  direction  and  con- 
trol over  them  and  therefore  responsible  for  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  city  government.  Indeed,  under 
this  system  of  city  government  no  authority  can  be 
said  to  be  responsible.  The  responsibility  is  really 
divided  between  the  mayor  and  the  council.    The  re- 

178 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


suits  of  such  a  system  of  municipal  organization  are 
frequent  conflict  of  authority  and  consequent  govern- 
mental inefficiency.  It  has  been  during  the  existence 
of  this  system,  and  doubtless  largely  as  a  result  of  it, 
that  the  many  complaints  as  to  the  inefficiency  and 
corruption  of  city  government  in  the  United  States 
have  arisen.  The  lack  -of  concentration  in  the  city 
organization  to  be  found  in  this  system  of  government 
— a  lack  which  is  aggravated  in  some  cases  by  the 
fact  that  the  heads  of  some  of  the  departments  are 
elected  by  the  people— it  is  sometimes  attempted  to 
remedy  by  providing  in  the  charter  for  some  means 
of  uniting  in  some  sort  of  boards  the  otherwise  un- 
connected departments.  Thus,  in  St.  Louis,  heads  of 
departments  having  to  do  with  the  various  public 
works  of  the  city  are  united  in  a  board  of  public  im- 
provements. This  institution  was  copied  in  the  first 
charter  granted  to  Greater  New  York,  but  was 
abandoned  in  the  new  charter,  whose"  makers  at- 
tempted to  secure  the  same  result  by  decentralizing 
the  city  government  and  putting  into  the  hands  of  the 
president  of  the  borough  most  of  the '  functions  re- 
lating to  the  public  works  of  each  of  the  five  boroughs 
into  which  the  city  was  divided.  Other  means  similar 
in  character  have  been  adopted  in  other  cities.^ 

Finally,  there  are  a  number  of  cities,  particularly  the 
large  cities,  where  of  recent  years  the  position  of  the 
mayor  has  been  made  a  very  important  one.  In  these 
the  mayor  has  the  right  to  appoint,  without  the  ap- 
proval of  any  other  authority,  the  heads  of  almost  all 

'  See  Wilcox,  ' '  An  Outline  of  the  Study  of  City 
Government, ' '  p.  197. 

179 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


the  important  executive  departments,  and  in  his  own 
discretion  to  remove  them  at  any  time  during  his 
term  of  office.  This  system  of  city  government  may 
be  called  the  mayor  system.  Under  it  the  mayor  is 
made  the  responsible  head  of  the  city  administration, 
and  the  phrase  in  the  charter  which  makes  him  the 
chief  executive  of  the  city  has  a  meaning  quite  differ- 
ent from  that  which  must  be  attributed  to  it  in  the 
charters  of  the  first  two  classes  of  cities  to  which  al- 
lusion has  been  made. 

There  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  the  council 
system  of  city  government.  It  has  the  great  advan- 
tage that  it  avoids  all  possibility  of  conflict  between 
municipal  authorities.  The  council  being  absolutely 
supreme  in  the  city  there  is  really  no  authority  with 
which  conflicts  may  arise.  The  council  type  is  the 
only  type,  of  which  this  can  be  said,  under  which 
popular  local  government  can  be  secured.  For,  if  the 
executive  is  made  supreme,  there  is  great  danger  that 
the  control  of  the  municipal  government  will  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  state  government.  Further,  the  con- 
centration of  power  in  the  hands  of  the  council  facili- 
tates the  obtaining  of  the  best  possible  council  mem- 
bership. The  responsibility  and  honor  attached  to 
council  membership  attract  the  best  elements  in  the 
community.  Every  power  which  is  taken  away  from 
the  council  and  vested  in  some  other  municipal  official, 
takes  from  the  honor  attached  to  council  membership, 
and  by  so  much  diminishes  the  value  of  the  prize  open 
to  laudable  municipal  ambition.  The  history  of  Amer- 
ican municipal  development  shows  that  the  council 

180 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


began  to  deteriorate  in  character  very  rapidly,  after 
the  development  of  the  office  of  mayor  separate  from 
and  independent  of  it.  Finally,  a  council  properly 
organized  so  as  to  change  partially  at  each  municipal 
election  favors  that  continuity  in  municipal  policy 
which  is  necessary  for  municipal  administrative  effi- 
ciency. 

Inasmuch  as  the  council  is  an  absolute  necessity  for 
all  city  government,  while  an  executive  separate  and 
apart  from  the  council  is  not  such  a  necessity,  it 
would  seem  that  the  council  type  is  the  ideal  type  of 
city  government.  But  while  we  may  admit  this  to  be 
the  case  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  the  attempt 
should  be  made  to  make  the  other  types  existing  in 
the  United  States  conform  at  once  to  the  council  type. 
Governmental  forms  are  the  result  of  long  evolution- 
ary processes.  The  proper  form  which  should  suc- 
ceed, for  example,  that  form  of  city  government  most 
commonly  found  in  the  United  States  may  not  be, 
probably  is  not,  the  council  type.  The  absolute  mon- 
archy succeeded  the  unconcentrated  forms  of  the 
feudal  regime  and  was  in  its  turn  succeeded  by  the 
constitutional  monarchy.  So  the  mayor  type  which 
has  been  developed  in  some  of  the  cities  of  the  United 
States  may  be  the  proper  form  to  succeed  the  uncon- 
centrated board  system  which  for  a  time  was  so 
common  and  in  its  turn  may  be  succeeded  by  a  form 
of  city  government  which  more  closely  approximates 
the  ideal  council  system.  It  would  appear  that  what 
we  need  now  in  the  United  States  is  a  greater  concen- 
tration in  our  municipal  organization.   When  we  have 

181 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


secured  that  by  increasing  the  powers  of  the  mayor, 
we  may  safely  take  the  further  step  of  increasing  th« 
importance  of  the  position  of  the  council. 

Term  of  Mayor.  The  term  of  the  mayor  differs  greatly 
in  the  different  cities,  varying  usually  between  one 
and  four  years  and  averaging  two  years.  The  length 
of  the  term  seems  to  have  very  little  connection  with 
the  system  of  government  which  has  been  adopted. 
In  other  words,  the  term  of  a  mayor,  who  is  little  more 
than  a  president  of  the  council,  is  almost  as  liable  to 
be  of  the  average  length  as  is  the  term  of  a  mayor  who 
is  absolutely  responsible  for  the  city  government. 
Thus,  under  the  present  charter  of  St.  Louis,  the  mayor, 
who  must  make  all  his  appointments  at  the  beginning 
of  the  third  year  of  his  term  of  ofiSee  and  has  no  power 
of  removal,  has  a  term  of  four  years;  while  the  mayor 
of  New  York  City,  who  has  absolute  power  of  appoint- 
ment at  the  beginning  of  his  term  and  of  removal  at 
any  time  during  his  term,  has  also  a  term  of  four 
years.  In  a  few  instances  the  term  of  the  mayor, 
whatever  its  length,  may  be  shortened  as  a  result  of 
his  removal  for  cause  by  the  governor  of  the  stat*-. 
The  governor  has  this  power,  for  example,  in  the  cases 
of  the  larger  cities  of  New  York  and  Michigan,  and 
of  all  the  cities  in  Ohio.  Wliere  such  a  power  exists  it 
can  be  exercised  by  the  governor  only  for  cause  and 
after  a  hearing,  and  the  action  of  the  governor  is  usu- 
ally subject  in  theory  to  review  by  the  courts.  The 
courts,  however,  do  not  generally  regard  themselves 
as  justified  in  attempting  to  control  the  discretion  of 
the  governor,  and  content  themselves  with  seeing  to 

182 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


it  that  the  person  removed  has  a  hearing,  and  that 
some  evidence  of  the  dereliction  of  duty  charged  has 
been  offered  to  the  governor.  If  such  is  the  case  they 
will  uphold  his  decision. 

Before  closing  what  is  said  with  regard  to  the 
mayor,  attention  should  be  called  to  the  fact  that  the 
mayor,  particularly  in  the  smaller  cities  of  the 
United  States,  discharges  judicial  functions.  In  most 
of  the  cities  he  is  a  magistrate,  and  while  he  seldom 
acts  in  the  larger  cities,  in  the  smaller  cities  he  has 
minor  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction  and  very  com- 
monly exercises  his  judicial  powers.  These  powers 
would  seem,  however,  to  be  a  relic  of  the  past  rather 
than  a  forecast  of  the  future,  and  it  is  probable  that 
the  future  will  see  a  considerable  diminution  in  them. 

City  Civil  Service.  A  study  of  municipal  organiza- 
tion is  not  completed  with  the  examination  of  the 
powers  of  the  council  and  the  mayor  and  of  their  i-e- 
lations  one  with  the  other.  It  is,  of  course,  true  that 
in  those  cases  in  which  the  organizing  power  as  to 
the  details  of  the  city  organization  is  granted  to  the 
council,  any  further  study  of  city  government  must 
leave  the  statutes  and  extend  to  the  field  of  local  ordi- 
nance where  variations  in  detail  are  apt  to  be  very 
great,  greater  perhaps  than  in  the  case  of  the  statutes 
of  the  legislature.  In  the  United  States,  as  has  been 
pointed  out,  in  most  instances,  certaijily  in  the  case 
►  of  the  largest  cities,  the  council  has  no  large  organiz- 
ing power.  This  has  been  assumed  and  is  exercised 
by  the  legislature  of  the  state  through  the  passage  of 
general  municipal  corporations  acts  or  special  city 

183 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


charters.  At  the  same  time,  in  a  number  of  cities  in 
the  United  States,  of  which  Chicago  is  a  marked  ex- 
ample, the  city  council  still  has  the  power  to  organize 
the  details  of  the  city  administration.  But,  however 
great  may  be  the  various  details  and  whatever  difficul- 
ties the  student  may  encounter  in  his  investigation 
of  what  are  tiresome  and  what  may  seem  to  be  unim- 
portant details  of  the  city  organization,  the  study  of 
these  details  is  absolutely  necessary.  For  it  is  largely 
as  a  result  of  the  detailed  organization  of  the  city  and 
municipal  custom  that  city  government  is  good  or  bad. 
As  Dr.  Shaw^  says  of  Paris:  "There  can  be  no  com- 
prehension, however  faint,  of  the  government  of  Paris 
which  does  not  take  into  account  the  superb  permanent 
organization  of  the  civil-service  machine.  It  is  to 
this  tertium  quid  that  one  must  look  if  he  would  dis- 
cover the  real  unity  and  continuity  of  the  adminis- 
trative work  of  the  Paris  municipality.  Prefects  may 
come  and  go,  ministers  may  change  with  the  seasons, 
and  municipal  councils  may  debate  and  harangue  until 
they  make  the  doings  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville  a  byword 
for  futile  and  noisy  discussion.  But  the  splendid 
administrative  machine  moves  steadily  on.  Herein 
lies  the  explanation  of  much  that  puzzles  many  for- 
eign observers  who  cannot  understand  how  to  recon- 
cile the  seemingly  perfect  system  of  French  adminis- 
tration in  all  matters  of  practical  detail  with  the  rapid 
and  capricious  changes  in  the  highest  executive  posts." 
What  is  here  said  of  Paris  may  be  said  of  every  city 
in  the  world.  It  is  the  way  in  which  the  adminis- 
trative force  of  the  city  is  organized  and  does  its 
^"Municipal  Government  in  Continental  Europe,"  p.  27. 
184 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


work  that  makes  municipal  administration  efficient  or 
not. 

What  now  are  the  qualities  which  this  administra- 
tive force  should  have  in  order  that  the  best  govern- 
ment may  be  secured  and  how  has  the  attempt  been 
made,  if  it  has  been  made,  to  secure  the  best  govern- 
ment? The  qualities  desired  in  a  municipal  adminis- 
trative force  are  two  in  number :  they  are  amenability 
to  popular  control,  and  administrative  efficiency. 
Amenability  to  popular  control  is  necessary,  else  the 
wishes  of  the  people  will  be  incapable  of  realization ; 
administrative  efficiency  is  necessary,  else  what  is 
done  will  not  be  well  done.  But  while  amenability 
to  popular  control  is  predicated  upon  an  unstable  ten- 
ure of  office,  administrative  efficiency  is  predicated 
upon  actual  permanence  of  incumbency.  The  two 
desired  qualities  seem,  therefore,  to  be  somewhat  in- 
consistent. This  inconsistency,  further,  is  not  a  seem- 
ing but  a  real  inconsistency,  and  the  natural  result  is 
that  it  is  usually  the  case  that  one  of  the  two  qualities 
so  desired  in  a  municipal  administrative  force  is,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  somewhat  sacrificed  to  the  other. 
This  is  particularly  true  where  the  attempt  is  made 
to  secure  the  desired  result  by  means  of  legal  pro- 
vision. Thus,  in  the  United  States,  where  what  is 
sought  for  is  amenability  to  popular  control,  the  terms 
of  the  important  municipal  officers,  whether  because 
of  legal  provision  or  of  political  usage,  are  so  short 
that  permanence  of  incumbency  is  well-nigh  impos- 
sible. The  result  is  that  while  popular  control  is 
probably  to  a  greater  or  less  degree  secured,  the  ad- 
ministration is  comparatively  inefficient.  In  Germany, 

185 


("ITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


where  it  would  seem  that  what  is  most  ardently  de- 
sired is  administrative  efficiency,  the  tenure  of  muni- 
cipal officers  is  so  protected  by  law  that  an  effective 
popular  control  over  the  city  government  is  very  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  of  attainment. 

British  System.  In  Great  Britain,  on  the  other  hand, 
110  attempt  is  made  to  secure  by  law  either  amenability 
to  popular  control  or  administrative  efficiency.  Every- 
thing is  left  to  the  council  and  public  opinion,  and  the 
result  has  been  that  in  recent  years  both  qualities  have 
been  secured  in  a  high  degree.  In  Great  Britain  the 
council  divides  itself  into  committees,  each  of  which 
has  under  its  jurisdiction  some  one  branch  of  city  ad- 
ministration. On  each  of  these  committees  there  are 
a  number  of  aldermen  and  councilors,  and,  as  a  rule, 
each  has  an  alderman  for  its  chairman.  These  com- 
mittees are  practically  the  heads  of  the  different  city 
executive  departments  which  have  been  formed  by 
the  council  in  the  exercise  of  its  power  to  organize  the 
city  administration,  and  have  power,  subject  to  the  ap- 
proval of  the  council  in  which  the  ultimate  authority 
rests,  to  appoint,  dismiss,  and  direct  the  officers  of 
the  department. 

It  is  through  this  committee  system  that  the  whole 
city  administration  is  rendered  amenable  to  popular 
control.  The  people  control  the  council,  the  council 
controls  the  committees,  and  the  committees  control 
the  departments.  The  control  which  the  people  exer- 
cise over  the  council  is  so  organized,  however,  that 
popular  control  is  somewhat  subordinated  to  adminis- 
trative continuity,  for  the  council  is  only  partially  re- 

186 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


newod  at  each  election,  one  third  of  the  councilors 
being  then  changed. 

Under  the  council  committees  there  is  a  regular  rou- 
tine administrative  force.  This  force  is  divided  into 
the  higher  and  the  lower  administrative  force.  Such 
a  division  is  not,  however,  made  by  the  law  but  re- 
sults from  the  usages  of  the  council  and  its  committees. 
The  higher  officers,  such  as  the  borough  surveyor, 
equivalent  to  the  American  engineer-in-chief  of  pub- 
lie  works ;  the  borough  clerk,  equivalent  to  the  Ameri- 
can corporation  counsel ;  the  health  officer  and  in- 
spector of  nuisances,  equivalent  to  similar  officers  in 
the  American  city,  have  by  law  a  tenure  during  the 
pleasure  of  the  council,  and  no  provision  of  law  de- 
termines their  qualifications  which,  like  their  tenure, 
are  fixed  by  the  council.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
these  officers  are  chosen  because  it  is  believed  that  they 
are  qualified,  by  reason  of  their  knowledge  and  expe- 
rience, satisfactorily  to  perform  the  duties  of  their  re- 
spective offices ;  they  serve  for  long  terms  and  are 
seldom,  if  ever,  dismissed  arbitrarily  and  without 
good  cause.  What  has  been  said  with  regard  to  the 
higher  officers  may  be  repeated  with  regard  to  the 
lower  officers.  No  attempt  has,  it  is  true,  been  made 
by  law  to  apply  to  them  the  merit  system  of  appoint- 
ment introduced  into  the  imperial  service  by  the  Civil- 
Service  Reform  movement.  But  their  terms  of  office 
are  actually  quite  long,  though  their  tenure  is  during 
the  will  of  the  council.  The  result  is  that  no  attempt 
is  apparently  made  to  secure  by  provision  of  law 
either  administrative  efficiency  or  permanence  of 
tenure.   These  are,  however,  secured  by  public  opin- 

187 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


ion.  The  entire  administrative  force  is  out  of  politics, 
not  merely  national,  but  also  local  politics. 

Under  this  scheme  of  government  both  the  qualities 
so  desired  in  an  administrative  force  are  secured. 
An  enlightened  public  opinion  is  largely  responsible 
for  the  attainment  of  these  objects.  The  greatest  hin- 
drance to  the  development  and  exercise  of  such  an 
opinion  is  to  be  found  in  the  influence  which  national 
political  parties  exercise  over  city  government.  The 
influence  of  such  political  parties  is  greatly  dimin- 
ished in  Great  Britain,  fir.st,  by  the  position  which  is 
accorded  to  the  city.  The  city  is  not  an  important 
agent  of  state  government;  and  where  it  does  act 
as  such  agent,  the  control  which  the  state  exercises 
over  it  is  administrative  rather  than  legislative.  The 
influence  of  the  political  parties  is  further  diminished 
by  the  general  scheme  of  municipal  organization, 
which  fixes  clearly  the  responsibility  for  city  govern- 
ment, and  on  account  of  the  small  number  of  elective 
officers  makes  little  demand  upon  the  intelligence  of 
the  voters. 

Further,  the  British  principle  of  concentrating  all 

administrative  power  in  a  popularly  elected  council 
makes  it  unnecessary  that  the  popular  control  shall 
be  exercised  in  concrete  cases  over  any  of  the  city  ad- 
ministrative officers.  Municipal  officers,  acting  under 
the  direction  of  the  council  committees,  possess  so  little 
freedom  of  action  and  so  little  discretion  that  it  is  not 
necessary,  in  order  to  realize  the  wishes  of  the  people, 
as  expressed  by  the  council,  for  the  popular  control  to 
be  exercised  over  them. 

Finally,  the  fact  that  the  heads  of  the  departments 
188 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


are  members  of  the  council  serving  without  pay  and 
not  getting  their  livelihood  out  of  the  emoluments  of 
their  official  positions,  provides  for  the  existence  and 
continuous  exercise  of  a  popular  control  over  muni- 
cipal administration  which  under  the  social  conditions 
existing  in  the  ordinary  British  city  is  in  the  hands  of 
representatives  of  the  most  intelligent  and  public- 
spirited  classes.  There  being  no  salary  attached  to 
council  membership,  no  one  seeks  election  to  the  coun- 
cil from  motives  of  pecuniary  gain.  The  honor  at- 
tached in  the  public  estimation  to  the  position  is  suf- 
ficient reward  for  the  time  devoted  to  the  work.  The 
time  devoted  to  municipal  work  also  is  comparatively 
so  small  as  the  result  of  the  committee  system  which 
in  its  turn  is  often  based  on  a  subcommittee  system, 
that  even  busy  men  can  afford  to  serve  without  pay  on 
the  borough  council  and  do  their  share  of  committee 
work. 

United  States  System.  In  the  system  in  force  in  the 
United  States  we  find  a  system  radically  different 
from  that  which  we  have  just  considered.  This  sys- 
tem is  characterized  by  the  complete  separation  of  the 
mayor  and  executive  departments  from  the  council. 
The  number  of  these  departments,  their  functions, 
their  term  of  office,  and  the  method  of  filling  the  office 
of  head  of  department— all  these  matters  are,  as  a  rule, 
fixed  in  considerable  detail  by  the  provisions  of  the 
charter.  Only  the  minor  details  may  be  fixed  by  the 
council.  The  executive  departments  are  not  only  sepa- 
rated from  the  council ;  they  are  also,  in  many  in- 
stances, separated  as  well  from  the  mayor.   The  board 

189 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


system,  as  this  system  was  called,  is  now,  however, 
being  abandoned,  and  the  executive  departments,  par- 
ticularly in  the  larger  cities,  are  being  subordinated 
to  the  mayor,  in  whom  the  executive  power  is  being 
concentrated. 

The  lack  of  concentration  in  the  system  of  city 
government  most  popular  in  the  United  States  has 
brought  it  about  that  very  large  discretionary  powers 
are  vested  in  the  heads  of  departments.  This  has 
made  it  necessary  that  frequent  changes  should  be 
made  in  the  official  force,  particularly  in  the  heads  of 
departments.  For  only  through  the  exercise  of  the 
power  of  appointment,  where  he  possesses  it,  can  the 
mayor  exercise  any  influence  over  the  heads  of  these 
departments.  T*ese  frequent  changes  have  been  fur- 
ther encouraged  by  the  influence  which  national  par- 
ties have  so  long  had  over  municipal  politics  in  the 
United  States.  Up  to  within  very  recent  years  city 
elections  have  been  decided  largely  as  an  incident  of 
national  and  state  politics,  and  the  frequent  changes 
in  the  official  force,  with  the  resulting  lack  of  perma- 
nence of  incumbency,  have  brought  it  about  that  real 
administrative  efficiency  has  been  impossible  of  at- 
tainment. 

Since  1880,  however,  the  attempt  has  been  made  to 
concentrate  municipal  administration  in  the  hands  of 
the  mayor.  While  this  change  has  resulted  in  subject- 
ing the  municipal  administration  to  a  greater  popu- 
lar control  than  was  before  possible,  it  has  not  suc- 
ceeded in  producing  that  permanence  in  the  higher 
ranks  of  the  administrative  force,  particularly  in  the 
heads  of  municipal  departments,  which  is  necessary 

190 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


for  administrative  efficiency.  Each  incoming  mayor, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  appoints  new  heads  of  depart- 
ments as  he  did  prior  to  the  time  when  the  change  in 
the  position  of  the  mayor  was  made,  and  in  so  doing 
he  is  supported  by  the  prevailing  public  opinion. 

What  is  true  of  the  higher  administrative  officers 
is  true  also  of  the  lower.  The  only  general  exceptions 
which  are  to  be  found  are  in  the  cases  of  the 
school-teachers,  the  police,  and  the  members  of  the 
fire  department,  who  are  often  given  a  permanent 
tenure  by  law.  The  attempt  has  sometimes  been  made 
also  to  give  to  the  lower  officers  in  every  department 
a  tenure  similar  to  that  of  teachers,  policemen,  and 
firemen.  The  law,  however,  is  generally  silent  as  to 
the  tenure  of  the  lower  officers  as  well  as  to  the  quali- 
fications, both  of  the  higher  and  lower  officers.  The 
only  exception  is  to  be  found  in  the  cities  which  have 
adopted  the  merit  system  introduced  as  a  result  of 
the  Civil-Service  Reform  movement,  and  here  the 
qualifications  which  are  required  of  municipal  officers 
usually  atfeet  only  the  lower  grades  of  the  service. 

The  desire  to  concentrate  all  executive  power  in 
the  mayor  in  order  to  secure  that  responsibility  for 
city  government  without  which  popular  control  can- 
not exist,  and  also  to  secure  greater  administrative 
efficiency,  has  resulted  in  the  very  general  adoption 
of  what  are  called  single-headed  departments. 

Boards  versus  Commissioners.  The  desirability  of  single 
headed  departments  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  un- 
questionable, and  it  is  almost  heretical  at  the  present 
time  to  express  the  conviction  that  the  board  form 

191 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


is  preferable.  At  the  same  time  it  is  well  to  remem- 
ber that  both  Great  Britain  and  Germany  lay  great 
emphasis  upon  the  board  form  of  administrative  de- 
partments, while  both  France  and  Italy  have  organ- 
ized their  administrative  departments  in  such  a  way 
as  to  give  a  certain  amount  of  recognition  to  the 
board  form  of  organization.  While,  therefore,  a  con- 
viction as  to  the  desirability  of  the  board  form  may 
be  regarded  as  heretical,  when  looked  at  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  average  American  municipal  reformer, 
it  cannot  be  considered  at  all  heretical  when  regarded 
from  the  point  of  view  of  continental  European  and 
British  municipal  government.  It  is  therefore  quite 
proper  to  consider  somewhat  in  detail  the  reasons 
which  are  advanced  in  favor  of  the  board  form  of 
organization. 

The  reasons  which  are  advanced  in  favor  of  the 
board  form  are,  in  the  first  place,  the  greater  perma- 
nence of  tenure  in  the  heads  of  the  city  executive  de- 
partments which  it  assures.  This  results  from  the 
fact  that  boards  may  be  so  organized,  as  indeed  they 
are  generally  organized,  as  to  be  partially  renewed. 
The  members  are  given  such  a  tenure  and  term  of  ofiSee 
that  all  of  them  do  not  leave  office  at  the  same  time. 

A  further  reason  for  the  adoption  of  the  board 
form  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  it  is  the  only  form 
of  organizing  the  executive  departments  of  the  city 
which  really  makes  permanently  possible  popular  non- 
professional administration.  The  work  in  practically 
all  executive  departments  of  cities  of  any  size  is  so 
great  in  extent  and  so  complex  in  its  character  that  it 
can  be  properly  attended  to  by  one  man  only  on  the 

192 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


condition  that  he  devote  his  entire  time  to  it  during 
his  term  of  office.  Certainly  no  one  man  can  properly 
attend  to  the  work  of  a  municipal  department,  unless 
he  subordinates  all  other  work  of  a  private  character 
to  the  performance  of  his  official  duties.  Now  no  man 
can  afford  to  devote  himself  for  any  length  of  time  to 
the  performance  of  official  duties  so  absorbing,  unless 
endowed  with  large  private  means  from  which  he 
can  live  without  resorting  to  some  regular  occupation 
as  a  means  of  livelihood,  or  unless  the  emoluments  of 
office  are  quite  large,  or  the  experience  derived  from 
the  performance  of  official  duties  is  going  to  be  of  aid 
to  him  in  his  future  career. 

The  result  is,  that  either  a  permanent  official  class 
must  be  developed  under  the  single-commissioner  sys- 
tem, or  else  the  offices  are  monopolized  by  the  well-to- 
do  classes  of  people.  The  latter  result  is  hardly  con- 
sistent with  a  popular  democratic  government.  The 
former  means  either  a  permanent  professional  bureau- 
cracy, or  that  the  offices  are  filled  by  a  set  of  men 
who  make  politics  their  profession,  obtaining  their 
livelihood  from  the  emoluments  of  the  various  offices 
they  fill,  one  after  the  other.  Because  they  do  not  oc- 
cupy any  of  these  offices  for  any  length  of  time,  and 
because  they  have  not  received  any  adequate  training, 
if  they  have  received  any  training  at  all,  they  are  often 
not  competent  to  fill  these  offices. 

This  last  result  is  what  has  followed,  in  the  average 
American  city,  the  adoption  of  the  single-commis- 
sioner form  of  organizing  the  executive  departments. 
It  is  unquestionably  true  that  the  majority  of  impor- 
tant offices  in  the  city  of  to-day  in  the  United  States 
13  193 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


are  filled  in  the  long  run  by  what  are  commonly 
termed  ' '  district  leaders ; ' '  that  is,  men  who,  for  the 
most  part,  get  their  living  out  of  polities ;  who,  if  they 
do  not  resort  to  other  and  illegitimate  methods  of 
obtaining  money  and  are  not  well-to-do,  must  get  their 
living  out  of  the  salaries  which  are  attached  to  and 
must  be  attached  to  the  offices.  They  are,  in  fact,  the 
only  men  to  whom  we  can  look  under  the  present 
system  to  take  office  permanently. 

Such  are  then  almost  inevitably  the  results  under 
our  present  political  conditions  of  the  single-commis- 
sioner system  of  municipal  executive  departments.  It 
would  be  possible  by  attaching  large  salaries  to  the 
important  offices  in  the  large  cities,  and  by  making 
Ihe  terms  of  office  much  longer,  preferably  dur- 
ing good  behavior,  to  develop  a  really  professional 
service.  If  single-headed  departments  are  to  be  re- 
tained— and  that  the  system  has  much  in  its  favor 
cannot  be  denied — that  is  what  should  be  done.  If  it 
were  done,  it  Avoidd  be  possible  to  demand  of  the 
incumbents  the  previous  training  necessary  to  jSt 
them  for  the  arduous  and  complex  duties  they  are  to 
perform.  We  should  then  frankly  recognize  what  is 
actually  at  the  present  time  the  ease,  that  these  posi- 
tions must  be  held  by  a  professional  official  class,  and 
hy  so  doing  we  could  do  much  to  elevate  the  plane  of 
that  class,  both  as  regards  character  and  ability. 

Such  a  permanent  professional  administration,  how- 
ever, would  not  reflect  as  clearly  as  is  desirable  the 
wishes  of  the  people.  No  system  of  administration  is 
ideally  a  perfect  one  which  is  entirely  controlled  by 
a  professional  official  class.   Municipal  administration 

194 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


is  so  complex  and  so  wide  in  extent  that  it  is  ex- 
tremely doubtful  whether  under  any  system  of  or- 
ganizing the  mayor 's  office  the  influence  of  the  mayor, 
serving  for  a  short  term  only  and  depending  upon 
permanent  professional  heads  of  departments  for  the 
execution  of  the  municipal  policy  in  its  details,  would 
be  great  enough  to  make  the  administration  suffi- 
ciently amenable  to  popular  control.  Such  a  popular 
administration  can  be  obtained  only  through  a  board 
system  in  which  the  members  of  the  various  boards 
are  not  paid  large  enough  salaries  to  make  official  posi- 
tions tempting  as  a  means  of  livelihood.  It  is,  indeed, 
probably  better,  as  is  done  in  Great  Britain,  Germany, 
France,  and  Italy,  to  attach  no  emoluments  whatever 
to  these  positions  in  order  that  the  motives  of  those 
who  assume  them  may  be  absolutely  unmixed.  No 
emoluments  being  attached  to  these  positions,  persons 
desiring  to  obtain  a  livelihood  out  of  political  life  will 
not  be  attracted  to  them,  provided  some  method  were 
adopted,  which  it  would  seem  ought  to  be  quite  possi- 
ble, of  preventing  the  incumbents  of  such  positions 
from  making  money  in  illegitimate  ways. 

The  existence  of  the  board  system  thus  makes  it  pos- 
sible for  the  business  and  professional  classes  of  the 
community  to  assume  the  care  of  the  public  business 
without  making  too  great  personal  sacrifices.  Com- 
pulsory service,  as  is  the  rule  in  Prussia,  may  be  in- 
troduced. Such  a  provision  for  compulsory  unpaid 
service  would  not  be  unjust,  for  the  work  of  almost 
all  departments  is  of  such  a  character  that  it  can  be 
subdivided  and  distributed  among  the  various  mem- 
bers of  the  boards  at  the  head  of  the  departments. 

195 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


The  work  demanded  of  the  members  of  these  boards 
will  be  much  diminished  if  proper  methods  of  filling 
the  higher  subordinate  positions  are  adopted.  If, 
for  example,  the  public  works  department  of  the  city 
is  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  board  having  under  its  di- 
rection a  competent  engineer  or  engineers,  with  per- 
manent official  tenure,  who  attend  to  the  details  of 
the  purely  technical  work,  there  are  left  for  the  board 
itself  merely  questions  of  policy  to  determine,  which 
can  be  given  to  individual  members  of  the  board  to 
attend  to  with  the  aid  of  the  permanent  professional 
force.  The  individual  board  members  by  the  expen- 
diture of  a  comparatively  small  amount  of  time,  that 
is,  as  compared  with  what  would  be  demanded  of  one 
man  responsible  for  the  entire  work  of  the  depart- 
ment, can  arrange  all  preliminaries  which  must  be 
attended  to  before  any  matter  is  decided  by  a  full  ses- 
sion of  the  board.  Such  full  sessions  can  be  held  often 
enough  to  secure  efficient  attention  to  the  work  of  the 
department,  without  making  it  necessary  for  any  mem- 
ber of  the  board,  even  if  account  is  taken  of  the  indi- 
vidual work  he  could  do,  to  devote  all  of  his  time,  or 
even  a  large  part  of  his  time,  to  public  business  to  the 
detriment  of  his  private  affairs. 

Such  a  method  of  organizing  the  heads  of  municipal 
departments  not  only  makes  the  administration  of  the 
municipal  policy  popular  in  character,  but  it  also  has 
the  great  advantage  of  awakening  and  keeping  alive 
local  piiblic  spirit.  The  mere  fact  that  it  calls  into 
public  service  a  large  number  of  men  who  are  not  in 
public  life  for  what  they  can  get  out  of  it,  tends  to 
form  numerous  centers  from  which  will  radiate  the 

196 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


best  sort  of  political  influences— influences  which  will 
be  continuously  at  work  for  the  amelioration  of  muni- 
cipal conditions.  If,  combined  with  such  a  method  of 
organizing  the  heads  of  municipal  departments,  there 
are  adopted  proper  methods  of  appointing,  not  merely 
the  clerical  and  ministerial  forces  of  the  departments, 
but  also  the  higher  subordinates  who  ought  to  have  a 
special  and  technical  training,  we  have  not  only  a 
popular  administration  which  would  encourage  the 
development  of  public  spirit ;  we  have  also  a  most 
efficient  administration. 

Finally,  we  may  draw  a  lesson  from  American  ex- 
perience. If  an  examination  is  made  of  the  ordinary 
method  of  organizing  the  educational  administration 
in  the  American  city,  which  must  be  regarded  as  on  the 
whole  one  of  the  most  successful  branches  of  Amer- 
ican municipal  administration,  it  will  be  found  that 
the  board  system  is  adopted.  At  the  head  of  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  schools  is  to  be  found  a  school 
board  or  board  of  education,  whose  members  are 
elected  or  appointed  in  various  ways.  Under  the 
board,  which  concerns  itself  with  the  general  policy  of 
the  schools,  is  to  be  found  a  more  or  less  professional 
force  with  the  superintendent  of  schools  at  its  head, 
which,  under  the  direction  of  the  board  of  education, 
conducts  the  common  schools.  This  has  had  the  re- 
sult, as  everyone  knows,  of  allowing  politics,  that  is, 
state  and  national  politics,  much  less  influence  over 
the  schools  than  they  have  over  the  other  branches  of 
city  administration.  It  has  also  had  the  efi'ect  of 
keeping  alive  the  interest  of  the  people  in  the  schools, 
which  are  unquestionably  considered  one   of  the 

197 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


most  important  branches  of  municipal  administration, 
and  in  the  proper  maintenance  of  which  the  people 
of  almost  every  city  of  the  United  States  take  the 
greatest  pride. 

It  is  also  to  be  noticed  that  often  in  those  cities  in 
whose  organization  the  single-headed  system  predomi- 
nates, when  any  great  public  work  is  to  be  undertaken 
for  whose  successful  prosecution  a  continuous  policy 
is  desirable,  the  work  is  intrusted  not  to  the  single 
head  of  the  department  of  public  works  but  to  a 
special  conmiission  or  board  whose  members  have  long 
terms  of  office.  Such,  for  example,  was  done  in  New 
York  in  the  ease  of  the  aqueduct,  and  also  in  the  case 
of  the  biiilding  of  the  present  rapid-transit  railway. 
What  is  this  but  a  recognition  of  the  value  of  the  board 
form  in  securing  permanence  of  tenure  and  continuity 
of  administrative  policy? 

But,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  and  may  be 
said  as  to  the  advantages  of  boards,  we  cannot  fail  to 
notice  that  the  present  tendency  in  the  United  States 
is  away  from  the  board  form  and  toward  the  single- 
commissioner  idea,  particularly  in  the  larger  cities 
where  the  work  of  the  departments  is  most  complex. 
Even  in  the  case  of  schools  this  tendency  is  evident.' 
What  seems  to  be  desired  is  administrative  efficiency 
and  the  power  of  quick  action.  It  may  be  also  that 
the  social  conditions  of  American  life  are  not  such  as 
favor  the  board  form.  It  is  certainly  true  that  the 
whole  industrial  and  commercial  organization  of  this 
country  is  based  on  the  one-man  idea  rather  than  on 
the  board  idea.  It  is  the  railroad  president,  the  cor- 
'  See  infra,  p.  271. 

198 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


poration  president,  aud  the  bank  president,  rather 
than  its  board  of  directors,  who  gives  its  tone  to  the 
railway,  the  manufacturing  corporation,  and  the  bank. 
What  is  true  of  the  industrial  organization  is  in  like 
manner  true  of  our  educational  aud  political  organi- 
zation. It  is  the  college  president  and  the  party  boss 
who  directs  the  college  and  controls  the  party.  Such 
being  the  case,  it  may  well  be  that  we  must  reconcile 
ourselves  to  the  single  commissioner  in  city  govern- 
ment, notwithstanding  all  the  faiilts  by  which  the  sys- 
tem is  accompanied.  And  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
these  faults  are,  to  a  degree  at  any  rate,  offset  by  the 
greater  concentration  of  responsibility  and  greater 
powers  of  quick  action  which  it  must  be  admitted  are 
present  in  the  case  of  a  single  commissioner.  It  is, 
however,  much  to  be  regretted  that  boards  find  such 
unfavorable  conditions  in  the  United  States.  For,  as 
a  result  of  their  absence,  we  are  deprived  of  the  possi- 
bility of  securing  some  of  the  most  beneficial  char- 
acteristics by  which  a  system  of  city  government  may 
be  distinguished. 

In  the  United  States,  contrary  to  the  conditions 
which  exist  in  other  countries,  neither  positive  law  nor 
public  opinion  has  in  the  past  attempted  to  secure 
either  an  amenability  to  popular  control  or  adminis- 
trative efficiency.  But,  within  recent  years,  as  a  result 
of  the  concentration  of  the  executive  power  in  the 
mayor,  greater  amenability  to  popular  control  is  being 
secured.  The  adoption  of  the  merit  system  has  done 
something  also  to  secure  administrative  efficiency. 
What  has  not  been  secured  by  law  has  not  been  se- 
cured by  public  opinion,  which  until  very  recently 

199 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


has  not  been  at  all  enlightened.  This  has  been  due, 
however,  to  the  failure  on  the  part  of  the  people  gen- 
erally to  perceive  that  municipal  questions  should  be 
decided  upon  their  own  merits,  and  that  the  fortunes 
of  cities  should  not  be  sacrificed  in  the  interests  of 
the  state  and  national  political  parties.  The  necessity 
of  building  up  and  maintaining  political  parties  has 
been  so  great  that  it  has  blinded  the  people  to  the  evil 
of  the  government  of  cities  by  national  parties.  Of 
late,  however,  a  reaction  has  set  in  and  considerable 
progress  has  been  made  in  building  up  a  public  opin- 
ion sufficiently  strong  and  sufficiently  enlightened  to 
reprobate  the  practices  of  the  past  in  this  respect. 

City  Administrative  Districts.  Before  closing  what  is 
said  as  to  the  organization  of  the  city  executive  in 
the  cities  of  the  United  States,  a  word  at  least  should 
be  said  with  regard  to  the  districts  into  which  the  city 
is  divided  for  the  purposes  of  its  administration.  Al- 
most every  one  of  the  departments  in  a  city  of  any 
size  feels  the  need  of  dividing  the  city  into  circum- 
scriptions for  the  purpose  of  discharging  conveniently 
the  functions  intrusted  to  it.  Thus,  the  police  of  the 
city  cannot  keep  order  in  a  city  of  any  size  where  they 
are  obliged  to  act  from  a  single  center.  The  city  is 
usually  divided  into  precincts,  in  each  of  which  is  a 
center  of  police  activity.  What  is  true  of  the  police 
is  true  of  the  fire  department,  the  street-cleaning  de- 
partment, the  public-works  and  other  departments. 
In  addition  to  the  purely  administrative  districts  into 
which  cities  of  any  size  must  be  divided,  there  are 
other  districts  which  must  be  provided,  such  as  elec- 

200 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


tion  districts  for  both  state  and  municipal  elections, 
and  judicial  districts. 

•  Of  course  it  is  true  that  the  needs  of  each  depart- 
ment, whose  needs  are  thus  considered,  are  somewhat 
different  from  the  needs  of  every  other  such  depart- 
ment. If  these  needs  are  the  only  thing  worthy  of 
consideration,  each  department  should  be  at  liberty 
to  district  the-  city  to  suit  its  own  convenience  regard- 
less of  the  other  departments  and  branches  of  the 
city  government.  But  it  is  also  true  that  the  interests 
of  the  city  as  a  whole  deserve  consideration,  and  that 
if  the  method  of  districting  the  city  has  an  important 
influence  on  those  interests,  and  particularly  upon  the 
political  capacity  of  the  people,  considerations  of  ad- 
ministrative convenience  should  give  way.  Now  it  is 
unquestionably  true  that  the  district  system  of  a  city 
does  have  an  important  influence  on  the  political  ca- 
pacity of  the  people. 

Attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact  that  one  of 
the  things  which  make  city  government  inherently 
difficult,  is  the  lack  of  neighborhood  feeling  which 
seems  invariably  to  be  produced  by  city  life.  If 
each  branch  of  the  city  government,  and  each  city 
executive  department,  forms  districts  to  suit  its  own 
convenience  merely,  it  is  almost  a  certainty  that  there 
will  be  almost  as  many  series  of  diff'erent  districts  as 
there  are  branches  of  city  government  and  city  execu- 
tive departments.  The  result  is  that  such  a  neighbor- 
hood feeling  as  may  exist  is  disintegrated,  and  that 
it  becomes  impossible,  so  long  as  this  administrative 
diversity  continues,  for  such  a  neighborhood  feeling 
to  develop.    If,  on  the  other  hand,  care  were  taken 

201 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


to  make  the  election  districts  the  same  as  the  judicial 
districts  and  to  cause  these  to  conform,  in  some  way, 
to  the  police,  fire,  and  other  districts;  if  the  district 
court-house,  the  fire  engine-house,  the  police  station- 
house,  and  even  the  school-house  in  given  parts  of  the 
city  were  situated,  from  the  point  of  view  of  city 
geography,  near  each  other, — placed  perhaps  in  or 
around  a  small  playground  or  park, — it  would  be  pos- 
sible to  develop  civic  centers  which  would  tend  to  en- 
courage the  development  of  neighborhood  spirit.  It 
is  quite  true  that  the  convenience  of  the  departments 
might  be  interfered  with,  but  the  loss  suffered  by  the 
departments  would  be  more  than  compensated  for  by 
the  development  of  neighborhood  spirit,  and  in  many 
instances  as  well  by  the  greater  convenience  of  the  citi- 
zen who  would  find  that  his  business  with  the  city 
government  could  be  conducted  with  greater  ease  than 
under  conditions  where  the  city  districts  bore  no  rela- 
tion to  each  other.  Under  the  plan  which  has  been 
outlined,  of  course  the  districts  would  be  more  perma- 
nent than  at  present,  while  the  civic  centers  which 
might  develop  would,  of  necessity,  be  absolutely  per- 
manent. The  changes  of  population  which  are  going 
on  so  continuously  in  the  city  would  make  the  problem 
of  district  representation  a  different  one  from  what  it 
is  where  the  districts  are  not  permanent  but  are 
changed  to  suit  the  changes  of  population.  The  pi'ob- 
lem  would  not,  however,  be  one  of  great  difficulty, 
for,  instead  of  establishing  single  districts  as  at  pres- 
ent, it  would  be  possible  to  make  provision  for  dis- 
tricts whose  representation  would  vary  with  their 
population. 

202 


THE  CITY  EXECUTIVE 


The  plan  which  has  been  outlined  is  one  which  to 
a  large  degree  has  been  adopted  in  Paris.  Paris  is 
divided  into  twenty  districts,  each  of  which  has  a 
civic  center — the  mairie — at  which  are  found  the  office 
of  the  maire,  in  this  case  a  district  and  not  a  city  offi- 
cer— generally  a  city  library,  and  the  local  office  of 
the  charities  department.  The  mairie  itself  is  usually 
situated  in  a  small  open  space  or  park.  The  twenty 
districts,  in  addition  to  being  thus  administrative 
districts,  are  also  election  and  judicial  districts.  In 
this  case,  notwithstanding  their  differences  in  popula- 
tion, they  are  equally  represented  on  the  city  council. 
So  far,  however,  in  the  United  States  little  attention 
seems  to  have  been  given  by  the  city  governments  to 
this  important  matter,  and  the  convenience  of  the  ad- 
ministrative departments  alone  has  been  considered. 
The  result  is  that  an  opportunity  has  not  been  availed 
of  either  to  preserve  or  to  develop  neighborhood  feel- 
ing, or  to  secure  an  architectural  effect  which  would 
render  city  life  much  more  attractive  than  it  is  at 
present. 


203 


CHAPTER  IX 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION  * 

Meaning  of  "Police."  The  word  "police"  is  now 
used  in  a  sense  quite  different  from  that  in  which  it 
has  been  used  in  the  past.  Originally  it  meant  all  gov- 
ernment. Later  it  was  used  to  indicate  what  is  now 
called  internal  administration,  that  is,  all  administra- 
tion not  military,  financial,  judicial,  or  relating  to 
foreign  affairs.  Finally  it  came  to  mean  that  part 
of  the  administration  of  internal  affairs  which  has 
to  do  with  the  preventing  of  the  happening  of  evil  and 
the  suppressing  of  violations  of  the  law  through  the 
adoption  and  enforcement  of  repressive  measures. 
This  is  the  sense  in  which  the  word  is  most  commonly 
used  nowadays,  though  the  habit  of  referring  to  the 
officers,  whose  main  duty  is  the  preservation  of  the 
peace,  as  policemen,  has  caused  it  to  be  thought  that 
police  is  confined  to  the  preservation  of  the  peace. 
Using  the  term  police  as  indicating  that  govem- 

'  Authorities :  Fairlie,  ' '  Municipal  Administration ; ' '  Eaton, 
' '  Government  of  Municipalities ; ' '  Sites,  ' '  Centralized  Ad- 
ministration of  Liquor  Laws"  in  Columbia  University  Studies, 
Vol.  X,  No.  3 ;  Whitten,  ' '  Public  Administration  in  Massachu- 
setts," Ibid.,  Vol.  VIII,  No.  4;  Rawles,  "Centralizing  Tenden- 
cies in  the  Administration  of  Indiana,"  Ibid.,  Vol.  XVII. 

204 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


mental  function  which  is  exercised  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  public  safety  through  actions  somewhat 
repressive  in  character,  we  may  divide  the  police 
functions  into  three  classes,  to  which  we  may  give  the 
names  of  legislative,  judicial,  and  administrative 
police. 

Legislative  police  functions  consist  in  the  issue  of 
general  ordinances  in  the  interest  of  the  public  safety. 
This  matter  has  already  been  discussed  in  what  has 
been  said  relative  to  the  powers  of  city  councils. 

City  Judicial  Functions.  By  judicial  police  we  mean 
the  power  to  punish  violations  of  police  laws  and  or- 
dinances. The  functions  of  judicial  police  resemble 
very  closely  the  functions  discharged  by  the  criminal 
courts;  and  it  is  often  the  case  that  they  are  dis- 
charged by  the  lower  instances  of  the  criminal  courts, 
or  that  police  courts  are  invested  not  merely  with  po- 
lice functions  but  as  well  with  minor  criminal  juris- 
diction. We  shall,  therefore,  in  our  discussion  of  ju- 
dicial police  discuss  as  well  the  criminal  judicial 
functions  which  are  exceptionally  discharged  by 
municipal  officers. 

By  administrative  police  we  mean  the  power  to  pre- 
vent the  endangering  of  the  public  safety.  While  one 
of  the  main  functions  of  administrative  police  is  the 
preservation  of  the  peace  and  the  maintenance  of 
order,  the  word  has  a  much  wider  meaning.  Under 
this  heading  we  shall  discuss  as  well  sanitary  police, 
building  police,  and  police  of  public  safety  generally. 
We  shall  take  up,  first,  judicial  police. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  our  study  of  the  de- 
205 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


velopment  of  municipal  institutions  in  the  United 
States  we  saw  that  the  earlier  American  charters 
vested,  in  accordance  with  the  English  ideas  of  the 
time,  judicial  police  functions  in  certain  of  the  city 
officers,  namely,  the  mayor,  recorder,  and  aldermen. 
Thus,  in  New  York,  these  officers  were  declared,  by 
Section  26  of  the  Montgomerie  Charter  of  1730,  to  be 
justices  of  the  peace,  and  were  to  hold  four  times  a 
year  courts  of  general  sessions  of  the  peace  with  juris- 
diction to  inquire  into,  hear,  and  determine  crimes 
and  misdemeanors  in  like  manner  as  justices  of  the 
peace  in  their  quarter  sessions  in  England  might  do. 
They  were  also  to  be  justices  of  Oyer  and  Terminer, 
and  gaol  delivery,  and  to  be  named  in  every  commis- 
sion thereof.  Further,  they  or  any  of  them  had  power 
.  to  arrest  vagabonds,  idle  and  suspicious  persons,  and 
to  commit  them  to  the  workhouse  or  to  Bridewell,  for 
a  limited  period.  In  addition  to  this  criminal  juris- 
diction they  had  the  power  to  try  civil  causes,  real, 
personal,  and  mixed,  arising  within  the  city.  That  is, 
the  mayor,  recorder,  and  aldermen  had,  acting  either 
singly  or  in  courts  of  which  the  mayor  or  recorder 
must  always  be  one,  a  full  criminal  and  civil  jurisdic- 
tion within  the  limits  of  the  city  of  New  York.  This 
was  a  result  of  this  special  grant  to  them  by  the 
crown  of  judicial  powers. 

The  exercise  of  these  powers  remained  unchanged 
during  the  colonial  period,  and  it  is  not  until  1788 
that  we  find  any  evidence  that  the  state  considered 
that  the  administration  of  justice  in  the  city  of  New 
York  was  a  function  of  state  administration  which 

206 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


sliould  be  attended  to  by  state  officers.  By  an  act  of 
1788,  although  the  mayor,  recorder,  and  aldermen 
were  still  to  have  the  powers  of  commissioners  of  Oyer 
and  Terminer  and  gaol  delivery,  they  were  to  hold 
such  courts  along  with  one  of  the  justices  of  the  Su- 
preme Court.  By  an  act  of  1798  and  one  of  1800  the 
number  of  terms  of  the  court  of  general  sessions  was 
increased,  and  a  police  office  was  established  in  the 
city  with  two  special  justices  and  clerks.  This  police 
office  was  established  at  first  apparently  merely  to 
aid  the  mayor,  recorder,  and  aldermen  who  might  still 
act  as  conservators  of  the  peace.  The  constitution  of 
1821  vested  the  appointment  of  these  special  justices 
in  the  common  council  of  the  city. 

The  constitution  of  1846,  however,  provided  for  the 
popi;!ar  election  of  all  judicial  officers,  and  by  an  act 
of  1848  the  city  of  New  York  was  divided  into  six 
districts.  In  each  of  these  districts  a  police  justice 
was  to  be  elected  who  should  have  all  the  powers  and 
perform  all  the  duties  of  the  special  justices  for  pre- 
serving the  peace  in  the  city  of  New  York.  In  this 
way  the  petty  criminal  jurisdiction  was  transferred 
from  the  aldermen,  mayor,  and  recorder  to  a  police 
court,  separate  and  apart  from  the  council.  It  seems, 
however,  that  the  mayor,  recorder,  and  aldermen  had 
for  a  time  the  powers  of  magistrates,  but  never  used 
them. 

The  petty  civil  jurisdiction  of  the  mayor,  recorder, 
and  aldermen  shared  the  same  fate,  though  at  an  ear- 
lier date.  By  a  law  of  1787  assistant  justices  were  to 
be  appointed  in  New  York  city  to  relieve  the  magis- 

207 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


trates/  and  in  1791  the  aldermen  were  declared  to  be 
incompetent  to  discharge  the  minor  civil  judicial 
functions.  Their  higher  civil  and  criminal  jurisdic- 
tion was  taken  away  from  them  in  1821.  The  law 
which  took  this  from  them  recites  that,  "  Whereas  the 
mayor,  aldermen  and  commonalty  of  the  city  of 
New  York  by  their  petition  under  their  common  seal 
have  represented  that  the  permanence  and  tenure  of 
judicial  officers  is  advantageous  to  the  administration 
of  justice  and  that  the  provisions  to  the  effect  of  those 
hereinafter  contained  will  be  beneficial  to  the  city, 
Therefore,  be  it  enacted"  that  the  mayor's  court  shall 
be  changed  into  a  court  of  common  pleas  or  county 
court  of  the  city  of  New  York.  The  judges  are  de- 
clared to  be  the  first  judge,  the  mayor,  recorder,  and 
aldermen.  The  first  judge  was  to  be  appointed  for 
good  behavior  by  the  governor  and  council  of  ap- 
pointment. He  must,  to  be  eligible,  be  a  counselor 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  three  years'  standing. 
No  new  trial  was  to  be  granted  except  for  irreg- 
ularity, unless  one  of  the  judges  present  at  the 
hearing  was  a  counselor  at  law  in  the  Supreme  Court. 
This  court  could  be  held  by  the  first  judge,  mayor,  or 
the  recorder,  and  one  or  more  of  the  other  judges. 

The  same  act  provided  for  a  court  of  general  ses- 
sions of  the  peace  of  which  the  same  persons  were  to 
be  judges.  The  act  then  goes  on  to  say  that  it  shall 
be  the  special  duty  of  the  first  judge  to  hold  the  court 
of  common  pleas,  and  of  the  recorder  to  hold  the  court 

'  These  justices  have  since  been  replaced  by  the  district  court 
justices  who  are,  by  the  constitution  of  the  state,  elected  by  the 
people  of  the  districts. 

208 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


of  general  sessions.  The  recorder  still  presides  over 
the  court  of  general  sessions,  but  he  has  lost  almost  all 
of  his  administrative  functions  and  has  become  there- 
fore exclusively  a  judicial  officer.  The  court  of  com- 
mon pleas,  to  which  was  afterward  added  the  Su- 
perior Court  of  the  city  of  New  York,  was,  with  the 
Superior  Court,  incorporated  into  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  First  Department  of  the  State  by  the  Constitu- 
tion of  1894.  The  last  step  in  this  development  was 
the  taking  away  from  the  aldermen  and  the  mayor  the 
right  to  sit  as  judges.  This  was  done  for  the  alder- 
men, as  far  as  the  criminal  courts  were  concerned,  by 
a  law  of  1857.  The  mayor  is  still,  in  the  charter  of 
New  York,  declared  to  be  a  magistrate,  though  his 
powers  as  magistrate  are  not  defined,  and  he  never 
attempts  to  exercise  judicial  powers. 

City  Police  Justices.  Up  to  1846,  then,  the  persons  hav- 
ing judicial  police  functions  to  discharge  in  the  City 
of  New  York  had  been  either  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor or  elected  by  the  city  council ;  or  certain  mem- 
bers of  the  council,  that  is,  the  aldermen,  who  were 
elected  by  the  voters  of  the  city,  ex  officio  discharged 
these  functions.  The  democratic  movement  of  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  had  the  same  efi^ect 
on  this  branch  of  administration  that  it  had  on  all 
others.  The  Constitution  of  1846,  as  has  been  said, 
made  these  officers  elective  by  the  people.  The  elec- 
tive principle  worked  as  badly  here  as  in  other  parts 
of  the  city  administration,  but  being,  so  far  as  con- 
cerned judicial  police  officers,  incorporated  into  the 
constitution  it  could  not  be  abandoned  so  soon  as  it 
"  209 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


was  in  the  case  of  the  elected  heads  of  executive  de- 
partments.^ In  1869,  however,  the  constitution  was 
so  amended  as  to  permit  of  the  appointment  by  some 
h)cal  authority  of  the  judicial  police  officers  in  the 
cities  of  the  state  of  New  York.  In  1873  a  law  was 
passed,  drawn  by  the  late  Dorman  B.  Eaton,  which 
vested  the  power  of  appointing  police  justices,  as  they 
were  called,  in  the  mayor,  subject  to  the  confirmation 
of  the  aldermen.  Later  the  confirmation  of  the  alder- 
men was  made  unnecessary.  The  law  of  1873  pro- 
vided further  that  the  police  justices  might  be  re- 
moved by  the  judges  of  the  higher  courts.  In  1895 
the  system  was  reorganized  and  the  principle  intro- 
duced that  police  justices  should  be  removed  only 
after  an  opportunity  to  be  heard  in  their  defense  had 
been  accorded  to  them.  The  law  of  1895  provides 
further  for  two  classes  of  justices:  police  magistrates 
who  are  committing  magistrates  and  have  the  power 
to  punish  for  police  offenses,  and  the  justices  of  special 
sessions  who  act  both  as  a  court  of  appeal  from  the 
summary  convictions  of  police  magistrates  and  as 
courts  of  first  instance  acting  with  a  jury  for  minor 
criminal  offenses.  Both  the  magistrates  and  the  jus- 
tices of  special  sessions  may  now  be  removed  for  cause 
only  and  after  an  opportunity  to  be  heard. 

So  far  as  other  cities  in  the  United  States  are  con- 
cerned the  practice  varies.  Sometimes  the  judicial 
police  officers  are  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the 
state,  or  the  state  legislature,  as  in  the  New  England 

'  These,  it  will  be  remembered,  were  made  elective  in  1849, 
and  were  made  appointive  by  the  mayor  and  council  by  the  char- 
ter of  1853. 

210 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


states,  sometimes  by  the  city  council,  as  in  the  South- 
ern states,  or  by  the  mayor  and  council,  or  by  the 
mayor  alone,  as  in  New  York  and  other  cities  scattered 
all  over  the  country ;  sometimes  elected  by  the  people, 
as  in  Philadelphia  and  generally  throughout  the 
Western  cities.  What  has  been  said  with  regard  to 
police  judges  may  almost  be  repeated  with  regard  to 
municipal  civil  judges.  Indeed,  in  some  cases  the 
same  person  acts  in  both  capacities. 

Children's  Courts.  Within  recent  years  the  attempt 
has  been  made  in  some  of  the  larger  cities  of  the 
United  States  to  provide,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary 
minor  criminal  courts,  a  court  or  courts  for  hearing 
criminal  complaints  against  children.  The  purpose 
of  providing  such  special  children's  courts  is  to  pre- 
vent the  association  of  offenders  of  immature  years 
with  habitual  adult  offenders,  and  also  to  prevent  the 
development,  in  the  mind  of  the  youthful  offender, 
of  the  idea  that  he  is  a  criminal.  Such  courts  have 
been  established,  for  example,  in  the  cities  of  New 
York  and  Baltimore.  Closely  connected  with  these 
children's  courts  is  the  system  of  probation  officers 
for  whom  provision  has  been  made  in  a  number  of  the 
larger  cities.  These  officers  are  appointed  by  the 
minor  criminal  courts,  very  frequently  on  the  nomi- 
nation of  the  voluntary  associations,  whose  purpose 
is  the  amelioration  of  the  lot  of  the  criminal  and  de- 
pendent classes.*    When  a  youthful  offender,  or  in 

'  See  New  York  State  Library  Bulletin,  No.  54,  p.  461 ;  Ee- 
port  of  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction,  1901,  Index 
sub  verbo  ' '  Probation ; ' '  Annals  of  American  Academy,  Vol. 
XX,  p.  257. 

211 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


some  cases  au  adult  first  offender,  is  convicted  of  a 
criminal  offense  by  one  of  those  minor  criminal  courts, 
the  judge  by  authority  of  the  statute  suspends  sen- 
tence and  hands  over  the  person  convicted  to  the 
charge  of  a  probation  officer.  In  such  case  the  person 
so  placed  in  charge  of  the  probation  officer  must  re- 
port periodically  to  him.  Such  reports  finally  come 
to  the  judge  who,  if  they  are  satisfactory,  may  in  the 
end  discharge  the  offender.  It  is  said  that  this  method 
of  dealing  with  first  offenders  has  been  successful, 
particularly  in  the  case  of  youthful  offenders  and 
those  who  have  been  convicted  of  drunkenness. 

Importance  of  City  Courts.  The  subject  of  the  organi- 
zation and  powers  of  these  lower  city  courts,  and  par- 
ticularly of  those  having  criminal  jurisdiction,  is 
one  of  the  most  important  subjects  connected  with 
the  study  of  city  government.  For  the  great 
mass  of  city  people  come  into  relations  only  with 
these  courts.  If  these  courts  are  corrupt  or  ineffi- 
cient, justice  for  the  great  mass  of  those  people  is 
but  a  misnomer.  And  yet,  notwithstanding  the  tran- 
scendent importance  of  the  subject,  it  has  aroused 
little  discussion  on  the  part  of  the  writers  on  city  gov- 
ernment, who  have  very  generally  confined  their  at- 
tention to  the  general  problem  of  municipal  organiza- 
tion, or  have  considered  in  the  main^the  problem  of 
municipal  functions. 

Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are  few  points  in 
which  city  government  in  the  United  States  is  so 
unsatisfactory  as  these  minor  city  courts.  In  New 
York  city  various  methods  of  solving  the  problem  have 
been  tried,  as  has  been  shown.    It  is,  to  say  the  least, 

212 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


very  doubtful  whether  the  solution  at  last  reached  is 
a  satisfactory  one.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  in 
large  cities  the  worst  possible  solution  of  the  question 
is  the  popular  election  of  the  minor  judges,  particu- 
lariy  the  police  judges.  The  evil  is  aggravated  where 
the  election  is  by  districts.  The  almost  invariable  re- 
sult of  the  election-district  system,  in  the  conditions 
which  prevail  in  our  large  cities,  is  the  election  as 
police  judges  of  the  worst  possible  type  of  ward  poli- 
ticians. Appointment  by  the  mayor  has  produced 
somewhat  better  results,  particularly  where  the  mayor 
has  been  confined  to  the  appointment  of  members  of 
the  bar  of  a  certain  number  of  years'  standing.  But 
the  experience  of  the  city  of  New  York  goes  to  show 
that  this  method  of  filling  the  office  may  result  in  the 
existence  of  a  police  bench  which  is  a  disgrace  to  a 
community  which  flatters  itself  that  it  is  either  civil- 
ized or  enlightened.  Conditions  in  New  York  have 
been  so  bad  under  the  system  of  mayoral  appoint- 
ment that  the  legislature  has  been  obliged  to  step 
in  and  legislate  the  entire  force  of  police  judges  out 
of  office. 

Indeed,  it  would  seem  that  local  executive  appoint- 
ment or  local  election  of  police  judges  in  the  larger 
cities  of  the  United  States  was  not  the  proper  way  of 
filling  these  offices.  State  appointment,  which  is  the 
rule  in  New  England,  would  seem  to  have  secured  bet- 
ter results.  The  fact  that  such  a  method  has  been, 
e.g.,  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  the  unchanged  rule 
for  a  long  time  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  evil 
conditions  accompanying  all  the  methods  tried  in 
New  York  have  not  been  present  under  the  method  of 
central  state  appointment. 

213 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Much  might  be  said  in  favor  of  the  appointment  of 
these  officers  by  the  justices  of  the  higher  courts. 
Such  a  plan  is  proposed  by  Mr.  Eaton,  in  his  "Gov- 
ernment of  Municipalities,"  and,  as  he  points  out, 
has  been  followed  with  marked  success  in  the  case 
of  the  United  States  Commissioners,  who,  in  the  fed- 
eral system  of  judicial  administration,  exercise  some 
of  the  functions  discharged  in  the  cities  by  police 
judges,  and  who  are  appointed  by  the  United  States 
judges. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  said  that  some  of  the 
states  of  the  United  States  are  the  only  governments 
in  the  world  which  attempt  to  fill  these  offices  by  any 
method  of  local  selection.  In  Great  Britain,  France, 
and  Germany  all  officers  discharging  the  functions 
discharged  here  by  police  judges  are  appointed  by 
ofificei's  of  the  central  government. 

Preservation  of  the  Peace  and  Order.  Administrative 
police  is  that  part  of  the  police  function  which  has 
to  do  with  the  arrest  of  offenders  against  the  crim- 
inal and  police  laws  and  ordinances.  The  systematic 
organization  of  professional,  disciplined  police  forces 
has  only  very  recently  been  undertaken.  From  a  very 
early  time  the  attempt  was  made  to  provide  officers 
for  the  preservation  of  the  peace,  like  the  English 
Parish  constables,  of  whom  Dogberry  is  the  most  fa- 
mous example.  There  was  nothing,  however,  very  sys- 
tematic about  the  way  in  which  the  government  at- 
tempted the  work,  and  the  attempts  which  it  made 
were  not  attended  with  great  success.  Besides  form- 
ing systems  similar  to  that  which  was  based  on  the 

214 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


parish  constable,  the  governments  of  the  centuries 
preceding  the  nineteenth  century  placed  a  consider- 
able reliance  upon  the  army  for  the  preservation  of 
order,  particularly  where  that  might  be  disturbed  as 
the  result  of  political  offenses. 

The  London  System.  The  first  attempt  to  form  a  mod- 
ern city  police  force  was  made  by  England,  in  1829, 
by  the  act  passed  to  improve  the  police  in  and  near  the 
metropolis  of  Loudon.  The  metropolis  of  London  as 
distinguished  from  the  city  of  London  had  grown  up 
naturally  about  the  city  through  the  settlement  of 
persons  in  what  had  been  rural  parishes.  As  the 
population  of  these  parishes  had  increased  and  it 
was  seen  that  the  unmodified  rural  parish  organiza- 
tion was  inapplicable  to  the  new  conditions,  special 
Acts  of  Parliament  were  passed,  giving  particular 
parishes  a  spesial  organization.  But,  so  far  as  the 
preservation  of  the  peace  and  the  maintenance  of 
public  order  were  concerned,  reliance  was  placed  on  the 
parish  constable  and  the  night  watchman,  who  had 
jurisdiction  only  in  the  parish  in  which  they  had  been 
appointed.  Dr.  Colquhoun,  a  city  police  magistrate, 
drew  attention,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  to  the  bad  conditions  produced  by  such  a 
system,  in  a  book  entitled  "The  Police,"  which  in  a 
short  time  went  through  several  editions.  Various 
parliamentary  committees  were  appointed  to  examine 
into  the  subject  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  In  1828  a  commission  was  appointed  on 
the  suggestion  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  who  was  then  Home 
Secretary,  and  in  1829  an  act  was  passed  which  took 

215 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


out  of  the  hands  of  the  parishes  surrounding  the  city 
the  charge  of  the  preservation  of  the  peace,  and  pro- 
vided a  metropolitan  district,  as  it  was  called,  which 
ultimately  came  to  consist  of  all  the  country  within  a 
radius  of  fifteen  miles  from  Charing  Cross,  and  in 
which  a  new  police  force  was  established.  The  police 
of  the  city  of  London,  which  had  not  been  affected  by 
the  act  of  1829,  was,  in  1839,  put  upon  somewhat  the 
same  basis  as  the  metropolitan  police  force.  The  fact 
of  Sir  Robert  Peel's  connection  with  the  change  will 
always  be  associated  with  the  new  municipal  police 
methods  from  the  terms  of  "Bobby"  or  "Peeler" 
which,  originally  used  in  derision,  have  since  come  to 
be  applied  commonly  to  city  policemen  in  almost  all 
English-speaking  countries. 

This  reform  met  with  great  opposition.  The  com- 
mittees of  Parliament,  which  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century  had  examined  into  the  subject,  re- 
garded with  considerable  misgiving  so  radical  a 
change  in  the  historical  methods  of  maintaining  order. 
And  Parliament  made  the  change  only  because  of  the 
increase  of  crime  everywhere  throughout  the  metro- 
politan district.  The  misgivings  of  those  responsible 
for  the  change  were  but  a  forecast  of  the  opposition 
which  followed  its  adoption  on  the  part  of  the  people. 
The  "Peelers,"  or  "Bobbies,"  as  they  were  at  once 
called,  were  greeted  on  the  street  with  hisses  and 
hoots  of  disapproval ;  and  cries  of  ' '  Down  with  the 
new  police"  were  commonly  heard.  Only  four  years 
after  the  passage  of  the  act  came  the  Chartist  riot  in 
Coldbath  Fields,  when  three  policemen  were  stabbed 
and  one  killed.   The  coroner's  jury  brought  in  a  ver- 

216 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


diet  of  "justifiable  homieide. "  Committees  of  Par- 
liament were  then  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  con- 
duct of  the  new  police  force,  approved  it,  and  popular 
hostility  ultimately  subsided.^ 

The  main  characteristics  which  distinguished  the 
new  methods  from  those  which  they  superseded  were 
three  in  number.  They  were,  first,  the  professional 
character  of  the  force.  The  old  system  of  parish  con- 
stables and  night  watchmen  had,  it  is  true,  been  based 
upon  paid  service,  but  the  service  was  paid  for  on  such 
a  low  scale  that  the  constable  and  watchmen  were  not 
able  to  live  from  their  pay  alone.  The  new  force,  in 
addition  to  being  much  more  numerous  than  the  old, 
received  larger  compensation  and  were  expected  to  de- 
vote their  entire  time  to  their  work.  The  occupation 
of  policemen  thus  became  a  definite  occupation,  re- 
quiring certain  specific  qualifications,  although  the 
powers  given  the  new  force  were  little  more  than 
those  possessed  by  parish  constables. 

The  second  characteristic  of  the  system  was  its  cen- 
tralization. The  officers  at  the  head  of  the  new  force, 
at  first  two  commissioners,  later  one  commissioner 
and  three  assistant  commissioners,  who  were  given  the 
powers  of  justices  of  the  peace,  were  appointed  by 
and  acted  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the  home 
secretary. 

In  the  third  place,  the  new  force  was  organized  on 
a  semi-military  plan  and  consisted  of  constables,  ser- 
geants, inspectors,  and  divisional  and  district  super- 
intendents. 

At  the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  system  provision 
* ' '  Encyclopaedia  Britannica, ' '  Art.  ' '  Police. ' ' 

217 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


was  made  for  a  detective  force  which  was  and  is  known 
as  the  criminal  investigation  department.  This  is 
under  the  charge  of  one  of  the  assistant  commission- 
ers, who  has  his  headcjuarters  in  Scotland  Yard  with 
officers  of  the  department  in  the  divisions  of  the  metro- 
politan district.  These  officers  are  often  sent  all  over 
the  country  and  even  to  the  British  Colonies  and  for- 
eign states. 

The  municipal  corporations  act  of  1835  contained 
a  provision  by  which  this  system  might  be  extended 
to  other  British  boroughs,  although  the  management 
of  the  forces  which  were  to  be  provided  was  to  be  left 
in  local  control.  Subsequent  laws  have,  by  grants  of 
aid  from  the  central  government  to  the  boroughs  and 
counties,  whose  police  forces  attain  a  certain  degree 
of  efficiency,  to  be  evidenced  by  a  certificate  of  the 
home  secretary,  encouraged  the  formation  of  similar 
forces  in  both  boroughs  and  counties,  and,  in  1839,  as 
has  been  said,  a  police  force  for  the  city  of  London 
was  organized  on  pretty  nearly  the  same  basis,  al- 
though, like  the  borough  forces,  it  was  left  under  local 
control. 

Early  American  Systems.  In  the  United  States,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  similar  conditions 
existed  in  the  cities  as  existed  in  England.  Reliance 
was  placed  almost  entirely  on  the  constables  and  night 
watchmen.  A  good  idea  of  the  conditions  which  ex- 
isted in  one  of  the  large  cities  of  the  United  States  is 
given  by  Allinson  and  Penrose,  in  their  "Philadel- 
phia." Here  it  is  said  :  ^  "The  first  watchman  was  ap- 
1  P.  34. 
218 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


pointed  in  1700  by  the  provincial  council,  and  had  the 
whole  care  of  the  city  within  his  charge.  It  was  his 
duty  to  go  through  the  town  at  night  ringing  a  bell,  to 
cry  out  the  time  of  night  and  state  the  weather,  and  to 
inform  the  constables  of  any  disorder  or  fire.  In  1704 
it  was  ordered  by  the  common  council  that  the  city 
be  divided  into  ten  precincts  and  that  an  equal  num- 
ber of  watchmen  be  assigned  to  each  constable  therein. 
In  the  same  year  the  city  was  divided  into  ten  wards. 
The  constable  was  the  principal  officer  of  the  watch. 
The  watch  was  not  a  permanent  body  of  paid  men,  but 
every  able-bodied  housekeeper  was  supposed  to  take 
his  turn  and  watch  or  furnish  a  substitute.  .  .  .  The 
system,  however,  was  onerous  and  unsatisfactory. 
.  .  .  At  length,  in  1749,  the  complaint  concerning  the 
want  of  a  'sufficient  and  regular  watch'  culminated. 
It  was  complained  that  the  watch  was  weak  and  in- 
sufficient, and  that  the  housekeepers  refused  to  pay 
the  watch  money  upon  the  pretense  that  they  would 
attend  the  watch  duty  when  warned,  but  frequently 
neglected  to  do  so. ' '  In  1750  an  act  was  passed  grant- 
ing to  a  board,  consisting  of  six  wardens  to  be  an- 
nually elected,  the  power  to  appoint  and  pay  as  many 
watchmen  as  they  deemed  proper.  "In  conjunction 
with  the  mayor,  recorder,  and  four  aldermen  they 
were  to  fix  stands  throughout  the  city  at  which  the 
watchmen  were  to  be  posted  and  to  have  general  con- 
trol of  the  watch.  The  constables  and  watchmen  were 
supplied  with  copies  of  the  rules  and  regulations. 
The  constables  reported  regularly  at  the  court-house 
and  had  general  superintendence  of  the  watchmen. 
Neglect  or  violation  of  the  police  rules  of  the  mayor, 

219 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


recorder,  aldermen,  and  watchmen  was  punished  by 
fine."  The  system  was  not,  however,  at  all  satisfac- 
tory. "During  the  revolution  there  was  practically 
no  police  protection  to  the  city  apart  from  the  mili- 
tary, and  even  after  the  act  of  1789  was  passed  the 
same  radically  inadequate  system  continued  as  existed 
under  the  charter  government.  The  police  force,  if 
we  may  use  the  term,  consisted  of  a  high  constable, 
the  constables,  the  watch,  and  the  superintendent  of 
the  watch,  the  two  former  appointed  by  the  mayor,  the 
latter  by  the  city  commissioners.  The  constables  had 
their  common  law  powers.  The  ordinance  of  1789  cre- 
ating city  commissioners  and  the  several  ordinances 
supplementary  thereto,  placed  the  appointment  and 
regulation  of  the  watch  in  their  hands  where  it  re- 
mained until  1833  subject  to  removal  by  the  mayor  for 
misconduct.  The  first  decided  step  to  be  noticed  in  this 
period  is  that  the  city  commissioners  were  to  appoint 
a  superintendent  of  the  night  watch,  and  hire  and 
employ  a  sufficient  number  of  able-bodied  men  to  light 
and  watch  the  city,  at  fixed  wages,  prescribe  rules 
for  their  government,  and  dismiss  them  when  they 
thought  proper."  '  The  system  still  was  not  satisfac- 
tory, and  several  riots  occurring,  one  in  1838  and  an- 
other in  1844,  resulted  in  the  improvement  of  the 
system,  the  police  force  being  organized  in  1850  some- 
what on  the  English  model. 

Conditions  were  very  similar  in  New  York.   In  1840 
an  attempt  was  made  to  make  the  force  more  efficient. 
The  mayor  with  the  approval  of  the  council  was  to  ap- 
point a  chief  of  police,  and  the  captains  and  men  were 
'  P.  99. 
220 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


to  be  appointed  every  year  in  each  ward  by  the  alder- 
men and  the  assessors.  Naturally  such  a  system  was 
unsatisfactory  and  in  1853  a  change  was  made.  By 
the  law  passed  in  this  year  the  mayor,  recorder,  and 
city  judge  were  made  police  commissioners,  with 
power  to  appoint  the  members  of  the  force  during 
good  behavior.  At  first  great  difficulty  was  found  in 
both  Philadelphia  and  New  York  in  making  the  men 
wear  uniforms.  The  attempt  to  do  this  excited  some- 
what the  same  remark  that  the  later  attempts  of  the 
late  Colonel  Waring  to  put  the  street-cleaning  force 
of  New  York  into  uniform  excited.  The  wearing  of 
uniform  was  then  considered  to  be  degrading  to 
American  manhood,  and  the  attempt  to  make  the  men 
wear  it  was  resented.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  in  Phila- 
delphia the  attempt  to  make  the  men  wear  their  uni- 
forms was  not  successful  until  1860. 

But  both  in  Philadelphia  and  New  York  the  attempt 
to  make  a  somewhat  military  force  after  the  English 
model  was  successful,  and  the  example  of  these  two 
cities  was  followed  by  others,  so  that  at  the  present 
time  almost  every  city  in  the  country  has  its  uni- 
formed police  force,  organized  in  military  fashion, 
and  professional  in  character. 

Adoption  of  London  System.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
system,  as  originally  introduced  in  the  United  States, 
differed  in  one  important  respect  from  that  adopted 
by  the  English  law  of  1829.  In  the  United  States  the 
preservation  of  the  peace  was,  at  first,  regarded  as  a 
purely  municipal  matter,  and  was  therefore  put  in 
the  charge  of  the  local  authorities,  the  mayor  being 

221 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


the  most  important  authority  having  to  do  with  the 
matter.  In  London,  and  on  the  Continent  as  well,  it 
was  regarded  as  a  matter  affecting  the  interests  of  the 
central  government  and  therefore  was  either  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  central  government  or  made  subject 
to  its  control.  The  experience  of  a  number  of  the 
cities  of  the  United  States,  under  the  local  manage- 
ment of  the  police  force,  was  such  as  soon  to  produce 
a  change  in  this  respect,  which  brought  the  American 
treatment  of  the  subject  more  into  accord  with  Euro- 
pean ideas.  Thus,  in  1857,  the  police  of  New  York 
city  and  of  Brooklyn  was  put  into  the  hands  of  a 
centrally  appointed  police  commission  having  juris- 
diction over  the  newly  established  metropolitan  police 
district.  The  example  of  New  York  was  followed 
within  ten  years  by  Baltimore,  St.  Louis,  Chicago,  De- 
troit, and  Cleveland,*  while  other  centrally  appointed 
police  boards  have  since  been  provided  in  several 
cities  in  Massachusetts,  among  them  being  Boston,  in 
Cincinnati,  Washington,  Denver,  Newport,  Kansas 
City,  St.  Joseph,  Birmingham,  Manchester,  N.  H., 
in  eleven  Indiana  cities,^  and  in  Providence  (1901). 
In  some  of  the  cities,  in  which  these  centrally  ap- 
pointed boards  were  created,  return  has  been  made  to 
the  method  of  local  appointment.  This  is  so  in  New 
York,  Chicago,  Detroit,  and  Cleveland.^ 

The  attempt  to  centralize  the  police  forces  of  cities 
in  the  United  States  has  given  rise  to  a  number  of 
judicial  decisions  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  this 
action  on  the  part  of  the  state,  either  under  the  ordi- 

'  Fairlie,  ' '  Municipal  Administration, ' '  p.  133. 
=  lUd.,  p.  13f).  '  Ihid.,  p.  133. 

222 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


nary  American  state  constitution  or  under  a  state 
constitution  which  contains  a  provision  that  local  offi- 
cers shall  be  locally  selected.  The  rule  supported  by 
the  greater  weight  of  authority  is  in  favor  of  its  con- 
stitutionality under  either  supposition.  In  New  York, 
however,  a  state-appointed  local  police  is  unconstitu- 
tional. But  the  state  may  form  a  district  which  is 
substantially  ditt'erent  from  the  territory  of  a  city, 
and  provide  for  a  centrally  appointed  police  force 
therefor,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  a  state  con- 
stabulary, under  the  control  of  a  state-appointed 
board,  would  be  upheld. 

Advantages  of  State  Police.  The  reasons  for  the  adop- 
tion of  centrally  appointed  police  forces,  apart  from 
transient  partizan  political  ones,  are  two  in  number: 
One  is  the  general  dissatisfaction  with  local  police 
management.  This  was  largely  responsible  for  the 
state  appointment  of  the  police  commission  in  New 
York  in  1857.  It  is,  of  course,  true  that  partizan- 
political  reasons  had  their  intiuence  then,  but  it  is 
none  the  less  true  that  the  condition  of  the  police 
force  in  New  York  under  local  management  was  a 
bad  one. 

The  second  reason  for  the  centralization  of  munici- 
pal police  forces  has  been  the  neglect  of  cities,  having 
the  management  of  the  police,  to  enforce  state  laws 
which  were  believed  to  be  of  vital  importance  by  the 
people  of  the  state  as  a  whole,  particularly  the  prohi- 
bition laws.^ 

It  is  difficult  to  obtain  any  satisfactory  testimony 
'Sites,  "Centralized  Ailministration  of  Liquor  Laws,"  p.  84. 

223 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


as  to  the  effect  of  state  administration  of  the  police 
force  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States  on  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  peace  and  the  maintenance  of  good  order. 
The  testimony  would,  on  the  whole,  seem  to  be  in 
favor  of  a  state-appointed  force,^  although  it  cannot 
be  said  that  a  state-appointed  police  force  is  any  more 
successful  in  securing  the  enforcement  of  Sunday- 
closing,  liquor,  or  prohibition  laws  than  a  locally  ap- 
pointed police.^  Ex-Mayor  Quincy  of  Boston,  is  re- 
ported as  saying :  ^  "I  am  free  to  say  that  under  the 
present  board  [the  police  board  in  Boston  has  since 
1885  been  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  state] 
police  administration  has  been  better,  the  laws  have 
been  more  strictly  enforced,  good  order  has  been  more 
generally  maintained  than  under  the  old  system. 
When  the  tone  of  the  state  government  is  higher  than 
that  of  the  city  government  centralized-police  ad- 
ministration is  the  better  system.  The  strictly  police 
functions  are  more  properly  a  state  affair  than  most 
of  the  other  departments  of  the  city  government." 

It  may  be  said,  further,  that  the  United  States  is 
the  only  country  which  has  adopted  the  principle  of 
uncontrolled  local-police  management.  In  most  of  the 
countries  of  Europe  the  police  of  the  larger  cities  is 
under  state  management,  while  in  all  the  police  is 
subject  to  a  strong  central  administrative  control.  In 
the  countries  of  Europe  the  system  which  was  estab- 
lished about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  which  was  based  either  upon  central  appointment 
or  a  strong  central  administrative  control,  has  been 

*See  Sites,  op.  ext.,  pp.  55,  87,  and  89. 
=  lUd.  '  Ibid.,  p.  75, 

224 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


permitted  to  continue  iBiclianged.  In  the  United 
States,  however,  continual  changes  are  being  made  in 
the  system.  Sometimes  we  have  local  control  and 
other  times  we  have  state  control.  The  stability  of 
the  European  systems  would  indicate  that  they  are 
reasonably  satisfactory ;  the  instability  of  American 
conditions  would  also  indicate  that  the  American  sys- 
tem is  not  satisfactory,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that 
the  exigencies  of  partizan  politics  are  responsible  for 
so  many  of  the  changes  in  the  municipal  organization 
in  this  country.  But,  while  making  due  allowance  for 
these  disturbing  influences,  it  can  be  said  that  the  con- 
ditions of  the  police  forces  of  the  ordinary  American 
city  are  not  satisfactory ;  and  the  inference  may  be 
just  as  strong,  perhaps,  that  one  of  the  reasons  why 
they  are  not  satisfactory  is  that  the  control  of  the 
police  force  is  too  subject  to  the  influences  of  the 
classes,  to  control  whose  actions  the  police  have  been 
formed.  State  control  of  the  police  would  tend  to  re- 
move the  police  force  from  these  influences.  Such,  at 
any  rate,  would  appear  to  have  been  the  experience 
of  the  city  of  Boston.^  This  feeling  is  voiced  by  a 
message  of  the  governor  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts, 
in  the  year  1868,  in  which  he  vetoed  a  bill  passed  by 
the  legislature  to  abolish  the  state  police.  He  says: 
"A  prosperous  commerce,  progress  in  the  arts,  and 
the  increase  of  manufactures  have  condensed  our  pop- 
ulation in  large  towns  and  cities,  intensified  vicious  in- 
clinations, and  multiplied  the  actual  number  of  crimes. 
This  is  apparently  the  price  of  public  prosperity  and 
wealth.  Official  records  display  to  the  public  gaze 
^  Sites,  op.  cit.,  p.  50  et  seq. 
15  225 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


an  alarming  increase  of  offenses  against  the  person 
and  property,  of  licentiousness  and  gambling,  as  well 
as  of  insanity  and  pauperism,  that  are  directly  trace- 
able to  lives  of  vice.  ...  To  deal  with  this  advanced 
demoralization  the  mvmicipal  police,  however  honest 
or  well  disposed,  seem  to  a  great  extent  inadequate. 
.  .  .  It  is  apparent  that  public  decency  and  order,  and 
public  justice  require  the  maintenance  of  an  executive 
body  which  shall  not  be  controlled  by  the  public  sen- 
timent of  any  locality,  which  shall  be  competent  in 
its  spirit,  its  discipline,  and  its  numbers  to  a  reason- 
able and  judicious  but  just  and  impartial  enforce- 
ment of  the  statutes  of  the  Commonwealth. ' '  Some- 
what the  same  testimony  comes  from  Indiana.  Pro- 
fessor Rawles  says:  "The  party  which  at  first  opposed 
this  centralization  of  authority  has  since  extended  it. 
.  .  .  The  success  of  the  experiment  is  indicated  by  the 
words  of  Governor  Matthews:  'Their  [the  metropoli- 
tan police  boards]  management  of  the  police  affairs  of 
their  respective  cities  has  given  such  eminent  satis- 
faction that  there  seems  to  be  no  disposition  to  return 
to  the  old  system.'  "  ^ 

Police  Boards  versus  Commissioners.  A  burning  ques- 
tion in  the  United  States  connected  with  police 
administration  is,  What  shall  be  the  composition 
of  the  authority,  whether  locally  or  centrally  ap- 
pointed, which  has  in  its  hands  the  management  of 
the  police  ?   Shall  it  be  a  board  or  shall  it  be  a  single 

^  Quoted  from  Whitten,  ' '  Public  Administration  in  Massa- 
chusetts, ' '  p.  8.5. 

'  Eawles,  ' '  Centralizing  Tendencies  La  the  Administration  of 
Indiana,"  p.  311. 

226 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


man?  This  question  does  not  seem  ever  to  have  pre- 
sented itself  on  the  Continent  of  Europe  where  the 
head  of  the  police  force  has  always  been  one  man. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  metropolitan  police  force  in 
London.  In  the  other  cities  of  England,  however,  the 
municipal  corporations  act  of  1835  made  provision  for 
a  committee  of  the  council,  called  the  watch  commit- 
tee, which  was  to  have  charge  of  the  police.  The  es- 
tablishment of  this  committee  was  probably  due,  not 
so  much  to  any  conscious  belief  that  the  board  system 
was  the  best  system  to  apply  to  police  administration, 
but  to  the  fact  that  a  committee  was  the  only  system 
of  administration  consistent  with  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  the  municipal  corporations  act ;  which  con- 
solidated all  municipal  functions  in  the  council. 

In  this  country  the  board  system  of  police  manage- 
ment was  characteristic  of  the  first  attempts  to  organ- 
ize a  modern  police  force,  namely,  those  of  New  York, 
by  the  laws  of  1853  and  1857.  The  board  system  was 
introduced  here,  however,  probably  not  because  a 
board  was  believed  to  be  particularly  appropriate  to 
police  administration,  but  because  the  board  system 
was  just  about  that  time  believed  to  be  the  proper 
form  of  municipal  government.  It  is  true,  that  after- 
ward the  demands  of  the  spoils  system  seemed  to  make 
a  board  necessary,  for  that  was  the  only  way  in  which 
a  division  of  the  spoils  of  the  police  force  could  be 
made  between  the  two  leading  political  parties,  but 
this  consideration  does  not  seem  to  have  affected 
the  legislature  which  passed  the  acts  of  1853  and  1857, 
for  no  trace  of  the  bipartizan  idea  is  found  in  those 
acts.    Later  on,  it  is,  of  course,  true  that  the  biparti- 

227 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


zan  idea  had  a  potent  influence  in  giving  the  board 
form  to  the  municipal-police  authority.  The  abuses 
which  resulted  from  bipartizan  boards  have  led,  how- 
ever, in  more  recent  years  to  quite  a  tendency  toward 
the  abandonment  of  the  board  idea  altogether,  and  to 
placing  the  management  of  the  police  in  the  hands  of 
one  man.i  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  latter  system 
is  the  correct  one,  whether  such  officers  be  appointed 
by  the  city  or  by  the  state. 

Defects  of  American  Police.  It  is,  however,  hardly  to 
be  believed  that  the  mere  placing  at  the  head  of  the 
police  department  in  American  cities  of  a  single  com- 
missioner or  the  appointment  of  such  officer  by  the 
state  governor,  will  have  the  effect  of  so  changing  the 
character  of  the  force  as  to  remove  the  present 
grounds  for  dissatisfaction  with  the  police  force  as  a 
whole.  Such  changes  would,  of  course,  concentrate 
responsibility  for  its  management,  and  take  it  to  a 
considerable  degrc3  out  of  local  politics. 

But  the  main  reasons  for  dissatisfaction  with  the 
police  force  in  the  average  large  city  of  the  United 
States,  are  not  that  it  cannot  be  held  responsible,  or 
that  it  favors  the  members  of  one  political  party  over 
those  of  another.  The  most  common  complaint  against 
the  city  police  is  that,  either  as  a  body  or  through  its 
individual  members,  it  sells  the  right  to  break  the 
law.  Probably,  in  this  respect,  the  police  force  of 
American  cities  is  not  peculiar.  The  same  complaint 
is  frequently  heard  of  other  city  departments,  and  of 
the  departments  of  both  the  state  and  national  gov- 
'  Fairlie,  ' '  Municipal  Administration, ' '  p.  137. 

228 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


ernments,  and  it  is  not  by  any  means  unheard 
with  regard  to  the  police  of  other  governments.  But 
the  persistence  and  the  universality  of  the  complaint 
in  the  cities  of  the  United  States  cannot  fail  to  pro- 
duce the  impression  that  the  habit  is  more  wide-spread 
and  more  deep-seated  in  the  case  of  the  American  mu- 
nicipal police  than  it  is  elsewhere.  We  are  naturally 
inclined  to  ask  whether  there  is  anything  peculiar  in 
the  organization  of  the  American  city  police,  or  in  the 
conditions  of  American  life,  which  should  have  for  its 
effect  a  greater  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  police 
to  sell  their  favor  in  this  country  than  in  others. 

So  far  as  concerns  the  police  force  of  Great  Britain 
the  organization  of  the  city  police  force  is  much  the 
same  as  here.  The  force,  as  a  whole,  is  called  upon  not 
merely  to  suppress  disorder  and  open  violations  of  the 
law,  but  also  to  ferret  out  secret  violations  of  the  laws 
which  have  been  passed  with  the  particular  idea  in 
view  of  improving  the  public  morals.  In  the  case  of 
the  continental  police  forces  the  conditions  are  some- 
what different.  The  enforcement  o£  most  of  such 
laws  is  intrusted  to  a  special  department  of  the  police 
force  known  as  the  morals  police,  and  the  major  part 
of  the  force  is  removed  to  a  degree,  at  any  rate,  from 
the  temptation  to  sell  its  favor. 

In  one  respect,  however,  the  conditions  of  American 
life  differ  very  much  from  those  of  European  life, 
and  the  difference  is  perhaps  in  large  pax*t  account- 
able for  the  greater  use  made  by  the  police  of  Ameri- 
can cities  of  their  powers  in  their  own  pecuniary 
interest.  In  the  United  States  the  people  have  never 
so  clearly  as  in  Europe,  and  particularly  in  Conti- 

229 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


nental  Europe,  distinguished  between  vice  and  crime. 
It  is  too  commonly  believed  in  this  country  that  once 
we  have  determined  that  an  action  is  vicious,  it  neces- 
sarily follows  that  such  action  should  be  criminally 
punished.  Whether  an  action  is  believed  to  be  vicious 
or  not  depends,  of  course,  upon  a  variety  of  things. 
But  whatever  the  criterion  of  morality  or  immorality 
may  be,  the  public  belief  in  its  immoral  character  is  the 
result  of  the  standards,  somewhat  subjective  in  charac- 
ter, of  the  majority  of  individual  men.  Now,  whether 
an  act  shall  be  a  crime  or  not  should  be  dependent  sim- 
ply upon  the  solution  of  the  question,  Is  it  socially  ex- 
pedient to  attempt  to  punish  such  act  criminally  ?  The 
morality  of  the  act  has  little,  if  anything, to  do  with  the 
matter.  An  action  may,  from  the  point  of  subjective 
individual  morality,  be  absolutely  innocent,  and  yet  it 
may  properly  be  a  crime.  Thus  from  the  individual- 
istic moral  point  of  view  it  is  an  innocent  action  for  a 
man  to  drive  on  either  side  of  a  city  street.  Yet  the 
government  may  properly  determine  quite  arbitrarily 
that  it  shall  be  a  crime  to  drive  on  either  the  left  or 
the  right  side  of  the  street.  Again,  an  action  may  be 
from  the  point  of  view  of  individualistic  morality  most 
vicious  in  character.  But  its  vieiousness  may  not  re- 
sult in  making  it  a  crime.  Mere  sensual  indulgence  in 
any  form  is  vicious.  But  the  mere  fact  of  its  vieious- 
ness is  not  sufficient  to  justify  the  government  in 
making  it  criminal. 

The  only  justification  for  punishing  an  act  crimi- 
nally is  that  the  welfare  of  society  requires  that  it 
should  be  so  punished.  Now  it  may  wfell  be  that  the 
difficulty  of  punishing  some  particular  act  may  be  so 

230 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


great,  and  the  procedure  necessary  to  secure  its  pun- 
ishment may  be  so  arbitrary,  that  the  social  welfare  is 
less  subserved  by  the  attempt  to  punish  it  than  it  is 
by  leaving  it  alone,  no  matter  how  vicious  it  may  be. 
By  letting  it  alone  the  people  in  their  governmental 
organization  do  not  countenance  it.  They  simply  de- 
clare it  is  inexpedient  to  attempt  to  punish  it  crimi- 
nally. Take,  for  example,  the  case  of  gambling.  The 
state  may  determine  that  it  is  inexpedient  to  make 
mere  gambling  an  offense.  This  is  the  general  rule  as 
to  mere  private  gambling.  No  one  commits  a  crime  in 
gambling.  The  state  does,  however,  say  that  it  will 
not  permit  its  power  to  be  exercised  to  recover  a  gam- 
bling debt.  But  when  it  comes  to  the  keeping  of  a 
gambling-table,  the  state  does  often  say  that  under 
all  conditions  the  keeping  of  a  gambling-table  is  a 
crime.  It  does  so  because  it  believes,  or  the  majority 
of  the  people  believe,  that  keeping  a  gambling-table 
has  such  bad  effects  on  society  that  it  may  properly  be 
made  a  crime.  But  suppose,  after  numerous  and  per- 
sistent attempts  to  suppress  the  keeping  of  gambling- 
tables,  the  state  came  to  the  conclusion  that  these  at- 
tempts led,  through  the  corruption  of  the  police  force 
and  the  ai'bitrary  invasion  of  the  right  of  personal 
liberty,  to  a  greater  social  harm  than  the  keeping  of 
gambling-tables  in  such  a  way  that  no  scandal  or  dis- 
order was  caused  thereby— suppose,  then,  that  it  ceased 
to  attempt  to  punish  criminally  the  mere  keeping  of 
such  a  table,  it  could  not  fairly  be  said  that  it  coun- 
tenanced gambling. 

Now,  one  of  the  results  of  attempting  to  determine 
the  criminality  of  an  act  by  its  viciousness  has  been 

231 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


to  force  upon  the  police  of  cities  in  the  United  States 
work  which,  under  the  standards  of  morality  prevail- 
ing in  the  cities,  it  is  practically  impossible  for  them 
to  perform.  Little,  if  any,  good  is  therefore  actually 
accomplished,  even  from  the  point  of  view  of  those 
who  believe  an  act  should  be  criminally  punished  be- 
cause it  is  vicious.  All  that  is  accomplished  is  the 
satisfaction  of  the  conscience  of  those  persons,  of 
whom  there  are  unfortunately  too  many,  who  seem  to 
think  that  if  they  have  made  a  sort  of  profession  of 
faith  by  denominating  as  criminal  in  some  statute, 
some  act  which  is  commonly  regarded  as  vicious,  they 
have  satisfied  the  demands  made  upon  them  by  the  ob- 
ligation to  live  a  virtuous  life.  The  moral  satisfac- 
tion of  such  persons  has,  however,  been  secured  at  the 
expense  of  very  evil  effects  in  other  directions. 

That  the  evil  effects  of  such  a  method  of  action  are 
great  cannot  for  a  moment  be  denied.  And  these  evil 
effects  are  particularly  marked  in  the  case  of  the  po- 
lice forces  in  American  cities.  Public  opinion  seems 
to  justify  the  passage  of  statutes  upon  the  enforce- 
ment of  which  that  same  public  opinion  does  not  in- 
sist. The  result  is  a  temptation  for  the  police  which 
human  nature  is  hardly  strong  enough  to  resist.  The 
police  force  becomes  a  means  by  which  the  whole  city 
government  is  corrupted.  There  has  never  been  in- 
vented so  successful  a  get-rich-quick  institution  as  is 
to  be  found  in  the  control  of  the  police  force  of  a  large 
American  city.  Here  the  conditions  are  more  favor- 
able than  elsewhere  to  the  development  of  police  cor- 
ruption, because  the  standard  of  city  morality  which 
has  the  greatest  influence  on  the  police  force,  which 

232 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


has  to  enforce  the  law,  is  not  the  same  as  that  of  the 
people  of  the  state  as  a  whole  which  puts  the  law  on  the 
statute  book.  What  the  state  regards  as  immoral  the 
city  regards  as  innocent.  What  wonder  then  if  the  city 
winks  at  the  selling  by  the  police  of  the  right  to  dis- 
obey the  law  which  the  city  regards  as  unjustifiable? 

These  conditions  of  American  life  must  be  borne  in 
mind  when  we  consider  the  police  problem  of  the  mod- 
ern large  American  city.  Until  we  alter  somewhat  our 
standards  of  determining  crime  we  can  hardly  hope  for 
a  different  kind  of  police  force.  Changes  of  its  organi- 
zation are  mere  scratches  on  its  surface  and  will 
have  little  if  any  effect  on  its  real  character.  As  to 
what  are  the  concrete  instances  in  which  changes 
should  be  made  in  the  criminal  law,  it  is,  of  course, 
exceedingly  difficult  to  say.  For  we  must  bear  in 
mind  that  there  have  been  many  instances  where  the 
criminal  law  has  anticipated  by  a  good  deal  the  popu- 
lar standards  of  morality.  Civilization  owes  a  great 
deal  to  criminal  laws  whose  enforcement  has  been  very 
imperfect.  At  the  same  time  no  crimirial  law  should 
be  placed  upon  the  statute  book  until  the  question  of 
the  possibility  of  its  enforcement,  and  the  effects  of 
its  attempted  enforcement  on  the  social  well-being, 
have  been  carefully  considered.  No  criminal  law 
should  be  kept  permanently  on  the  statute  book,  no 
matter  what  may  be  the  immorality  of  the  act  which 
it  punishes,  where  the  effects  of  the  attempt  to  enforce 
it  on  the  social  well-being  are  worse  than  those  of 
letting  the  act  go  unpunished.  It  always  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  state  is  not  the  only  means  by 
which  civilization  is  advanced.   Much  may  profitably 

233 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


be  left  to  the  church  and  to  other  organizations  whose 
work  is  moral  instruction  and  uplifting,  but  to  which 
is  denied  the  sovereign  right  of  punishment. 

Police  Licenses.  Closely  connected  with  this  subject 
are  the  attempts  often  made  by  the  state  not  to  sup- 
press but  to  regulate  some  particular  habit  or  practice. 
Where  the  state  decides  for  regulation  rather  than 
suppression,  the  enforcement  of  its  policy  of  regula- 
tion is  usually  intrusted  to  the  police  force.  The  only 
matter  which  in  this  country  is  universally  subjected 
to  a  policy  of  regulation  is  the  retail  sale  of  liquor.  The 
policy  of  regulating  the  sale  of  liquor  is  usually  based 
on  a  system  of  licenses.  The  issuance  of  these  licenses 
is  usually  discretionary,  and  quite  frequently  is  vested 
in  the  authority  standing  at  the  head  of  the  police  de- 
partment. In  other  cases  the  issue  of  the  licenses  is  put 
into  the  hands  of  a  special  commission,  whose  members 
are  chosen  in  the  same  way  as  is  the  head  of  the  police 
department.  In  the  smaller  cities  in  this  country  the 
matter  is  often  attended  to  by  the  mayor,  who,  in  these 
cities  often  as  well,  is  himself  the  head  of  the  police 
department. 

In  a  few  states  it  has  been  believed  that  the  discre- 
tionary power  of  issuing  licenses  for  the  sale  of  liquor 
is  accompanied  by  great  evil.  It  has  been  believed 
that  use  is  made  of  the  power  to  favor  the  adherents 
of  one  party  at  the  expense  of  those  of  others.  To 
remedy  this  evil  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  sub- 
ject to  the  review  of  the  courts  the  decision  of  the  li- 
censing authority  where  it  has  refused  to  issue  a 
license.    This  was  done,  for  example,  in  the  state  of 

234 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


New  York.  The  courts,  however,  were  so  reluctant  to 
take  jurisdiction  under  the  statute,  that  little  good 
was  secured  by  the  establishment  of  this  judicial  con- 
trol. After  the  failure  of  this  plan  it  was  determined 
to  take  away  all  discretion  in  the  issuance  of  liquor  li- 
censes, and  to  throw  the  trade  open  to  every  one  who 
could  bring  himself  within  the  conditions  of  the  law. 
To  prevent  a  multiplication  of  the  number  of  saloons, 
high  taxes  were  imposed  on  the  business  of  liquor 
selling.  This  method  of  regulating  the  retail  liquor 
traffic  has  been  adopted  in  other  states  as  well,  and  has 
the  advantage  of  taking  from  the  police  a  discretion 
which  is  easily  susceptible  of  improper  use. 

Public  Health  and  Safety.  The  administrative  police 
of  public  health  and  safety  differs  somewhat  from  the 
administrative  police  of  the  public  peace  and  order. 
As  a  general  thing,  the  preservation  of  the  peace  and 
maintenance  of  public  order  necessitate  mere  repres- 
sive action  by  the  police  authorities.  All  that  the 
police  authorities,  charged  with  this  function  of  ad- 
ministrative police,  have  to  do  is  to  arrest  violators  of 
the  laws  or  ordinances  which  the  police  authority  is 
to  enforce.  It  is  true,  of  course,  that  in  many  cases 
all  that  the  authorities  having  charge  of  the  admin- 
istrative police  of  public  health  and  safety  will  have 
to  do  in  order  to  secure  the  public  health  and  safety 
is  to  arrest  and  bring  to  punishment  violators  of  laws 
and  ordinances  passed  with  the  idea  of  promoting  the 
public  health  and  safety. 

But  it  is  impossible,  under  the  complex  conditions 
which  exist  in  modern  municipalities,  to  put  all  of  the 

235 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


sanitary  and  public-safety  regulations  into  the  form 
of  commands  to  the  individuals  to  do  or  not  to  do  a 
given  thing,  whose  violation  is  punishable  as  a  penal 
offense.  In  many  cases  general  regulations  must  be 
applied  to  particular  states  of  facts.  Thus  it  will  have 
to  be  determined  whether  certain  concrete  conditions 
constitute  a  public  nuisance  or  a  menace  to  public 
safety.  The  decision  of  such  questions  may,  of  course, 
be  intrusted  to  judicial  authorities,  but  as  a  general 
thing  judicial  authorities,  which  are  mainly  engaged 
in  the  decision  of  controversies  having  largely  to  do 
with  the  interpretation  of  the  private  or  the  criminal 
law,  are  not  fitted  for  the  decision  of  these  questions. 
They  are  not  fitted  for  the  decision  of  these  questions 
because  they  lack  the  special  knowledge,  the  possession 
of  which  is  necessary  for  the  proper  determination  of 
these  questions,  and  because  the  methods  of  procedure 
before  them  are  so  slow  that  the  public  health  and 
public  safety  might  in  many  cases  be  endangered  if 
resort  to  them  were  necessary  before  the  administrative 
authorities  could  take  action.^  The  result  is  that,  the 
world  over,  important  functions  involving  the  exercise 
of  great  discretion  in  the  administrative  police  of  pub- 
lic health  and  public  safety  are  intrusted  to  authorities 
which  do  not  belong  to  the  judicial  system,  but  are, 
on  the  contrary,  administrative  authorities. 

Sanitary  and  Other  Ordinances.  The  administrative 
systems  of  almost  all  civilized  countries  agree  in  vest- 

*  The  recent  collapse  of  the  Hotel  Darlington  in  Xew  York, 
it  is  alleged,  might  have  been  prevented  had  the  Building  De- 
partment had  the  right  to  order  the  work  stopped  without 
resort  to  the  courts. 

236 


POLICE  ADMINISTEATION 


ing  such  functions  in  administrative  authorities.  The 
systems  of  administration  differ,  however,  so  far  as 
concerns  the  legislative  functions  relating  to  the  police 
of  public  health  and  safety.  Attention  has  already 
been  called  to  the  fact  that  the  legislative  police  func- 
tions are,  as  a  general  thing,  in  the  United  States 
vested  in  the  council  or  other  municipal  legislative 
authority;  though  in  the  larger  cities  of  the  United 
States  there  is  a  marked  tendency  to  take  away  such 
functions  from  the  council  of  the  city  and  to  intrust 
their  discharge  to  the  administrative  authorities  of 
the  city  government. 

In  the  United  States  the  police  of  public  health  and 
safety  starts  from  the  idea  of  nuisance.  It  is  further 
based  on  the  principle  that  there  is  to  be  a  legislative 
determination  in  great  detail  as  to  what  are  nuisances. 
There  are  in  this  coxmtry  few  elaborate  general  stat- 
utes on  the  subject,  and  in  those  states  where  special 
legislation  is  permitted  by  the  constitution  much  of 
the  legislation  is  contained  in  statutes  which  affect 
only  one  city.  New  Yoi-k  city  was  one  of  the  first 
cities  in  this  country  in  which  the  matter  of  public 
health  was  taken  in  hand.  This  was  done  about  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  here  what  was 
accomplished  was  largely  accomplished  in  the  usual 
way  by  regi;lations  inserted  in  the  charter  of  the  city. 

In  addition  to  the  special  acts  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature there  are  also  municipal  ordinances  which  are 
passed  either  by  the  city  council,  as,  for  example,  the 
present  building  code  of  the  city  of  New  York,  or  by 
some  one  of  the  executive  departments  of  the  city,  as 
the  sanitary  code  adopted  by  the  department  of  health, 
which  in  the  city  of  New  York  has  very  wide  powers 

237 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


in  this  respect.  Ordinances  are  also  adopted  by  other 
departments  such  as  the  building  department  or  the 
fire  department. 

As  a  general  thing,  in  the  United  States,  there  is 
no  necessity  that  the  ordinances  passed  by  the  munici- 
pal authorities  shall  receive  the  approval  of  any  su- 
perior administrative  authority,  nor  has  any  superior 
administrative  authority  the  right  to  annul  them. 
The  only  control  which  can  be  exercised  over  them  is 
exercised  by  the  courts.  The  courts  may  declare  il- 
legal all  ordinances  which  violate  a  law,  or,  in  the  case 
of  ordinances  passed  as  a  result  of  the  exercise  of  the 
general  ordinance  power,  all  ordinances  which  are  un- 
reasonable. In  the  exercise  of  this  power  the  courts 
do  not  hesitate  to  declare  void  an  ordinance  or  even 
a  law  which  makes  a  nuisance  a  thing  which  is  not  a 
nuisance.  In  other  words,  the  courts  ultimately  deter- 
mine what  are  nuisances. 

Organization  of  Health,  etc.,  Authorities.  In  American 
cities  further  administrative  public  health  and  safety 
police  power  is  usually  vested  in  a  series  of  authorities. 
Thus,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  police  power  is  given 
by  the  charter  to  the  fire,  the  health,  and  the  tenement- 
house  departments,  and  the  building  departments  of 
the  five  boroughs  into  which  the  city  is  divided.  As  a 
general  thing,  owing  to  the  unconcentrated  character 
of  municipal  organization  in  the  United  States,  these 
departments  are  largely  independent  of  the  mayor, 
although  he,  with  the  consent  of  the  council,  ap- 
points the  heads  of  departments.  In  New  York  city, 
however,  and  in  some  of  the  other  larger  cities  these 

238 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATIOiX 


departments  are  completely  under  the  control  of 
the  mayor;  or,  in  the  case  of  the  building  depart- 
ments in  New  York,  under  that  of  the  borough  pres- 
ident, owing  to  the  fact  that  the  mayor— or,  in 
the  ease  of  the  building  departments,  the  president 
of  the  borough — has  absolute  powers  of  appointment 
and  removal.  In  some  cases  the  whole  matter  of  police, 
in  the  broad  sense  of  the  word,  is  put  into  the  hands  of 
a  single  officer,  often  called  the  director  of  public 
safety.  So  far  as  concerns  the  organization  of  these 
departments,  it  may  be  said  that  the  head  of  the  health 
department  is  usually  a  board.  The  reason  which  is 
commonly  assigned  for  giving  the  head  of  the  health 
department  the  board  form  is  the  large  legislative  and 
quasi-judicial  power  assigned  to  it.  Sometimes  the 
board  form  and  sometimes  the  single-commissioner  is 
provided  for  the  other  departments  having  charge  of 
the  public  safety.  Why  one  form  is  adopted  in  one 
case,  and  another  form  in  another,  seems  to  be  depen- 
dent on  local  conditions  and  on  the  prevailing  local 
public  opinion. 

In  the  executive  force,  to  which  is  intrusted  in  its 
details  the  execution  of  the  laws  relative  to  public 
health  and  safety,  it  may  be  said  that  somewhat  the 
same  tendency  is  manifest  which  was  noticed  in  the 
case  of  the  police  force  for  the  preservation  of 
the  peace  and  the  maintenance  of  public  order.  That 
is,  in  the  larger  cities  reliance  is  placed  upon  a  profes- 
sional force  sometimes  organized  in  a  military  fashion 
and  often  put  into  uniform.  This  is  particularly  true 
of  the  force  established  for  the  extinguishment  of 
fires,  which  has  been  completely  professionalized  in 

239 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


all  of  the  larger  cities,  and  of  the  street-cleaning  force 
which  has  been  subjected  to  somewhat  the  same  in- 
fluences in  the  larger  cities,  although  in  the  smaller 
cities  the  work  of  cleaning  the  streets  is  often  done  by 
contract.  The  force  required  by  the  building  and  pub- 
lic health  authorities  is  naturally  not  nearly  so  large 
as  is  necessary  for  the  extinguishment  of  fires  and 
cleaning  the  streets,  for  its  outdoor  work  consists 
mainly  in  the  work  of  inspection.  The  inspection 
force  is,  however,  like  the  fire  and  police  forces,  some- 
times a  uniformed  force.  Much  of  the  w'ork  of  the 
building  and  health  departments,  particularly  the 
former,  is  done  indoors,  and  consists  in  approving 
plans  of  buildings,  etc.,  which  must  by  the  law  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  competent  department  before  building 
operations  may  be  begun. 

State  Control.  The  municipal  police  powers  relating 
to  the  public  health  and  public  safety  have  not  very 
commonly  been  subjected  to  any  central  administra- 
tive control  in  the  United  States.  In  some  of  the 
more  advanced  states,  however,  like  New  York  and 
Massachusetts,  state  boards  of  health  have  been 
formed  which  have  rather  ill-defined  powers  of  con- 
trol over  the  actions  of  municipal  health  authorities. 
Dr.  Fairlie  says,  in  "The  Centralization  of  Adminis- 
tration in  New  York  State"  :^  "The  degree  of  posi- 
tive or  compulsory  authority  which  the  state  board  of 
health  can  now  exert  over  local  boards  is  limited  to 
certain  specific  provisions  of  the  law.  By  means  of 
these  it  can,  first,  require  local  boards  to  take  action  in 
'  P.  138. 
240 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


any  particular  case  recommended  by  the  state  board ; 
second,  overrule  acts  of  local  boards  where  they  aft'ect 
the  public  health  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the  local 
boards ;  third,  secure  the  enforcement  of  any  duty 
prescribed  by  statute  on  local  boards  through  the  use 
of  mandamus  proceedings  in  the  courts ;  and,  fourth, 
assume  direct  control  where  no  local  board  is  or- 
ganized. 

Under  these  provisions  a  considerable  degree  of 
positive  central  control  over  the  local  boards  might  be 
exerted  except  for  two  causes.  The  legislative  appro- 
priation for  the  expenses  of  the  state  board  sets  the 
limit  to  its  activity  in  this  as  in  other  directions ;  but 
equally  potent  is  the  fact  that  the  policy  of  the  board 
has  been  to  use  its  mandatory  and  compulsory  powers 
as  little  as  possible.  It  has  acted  on  the  principle  of 
working  through  the  local  organizations  established 
by  law,  preserving  their  autonomy  and  independence, 
settling  their  disputes,  supplementing  their  deficien- 
cies, and  endeavoring  to  elevate  the  plane  of  their 
usefulness.^  Thus  the  whole  tendency  has  been  to 
leave  the  actual  sanitary  administration  in  the  hands 
of  the  local  authorities,  and  to  make  the  central  board 
an  educational  bureau  rather  than  an  office  for  issu- 
ing mandatory  orders  to  the  local  boards.^ 

The  absence  of  any  strong  centralizing  tendency 
may  be  explained  in  part  by  the  board  form  of  organ- 
ization and  by  the  presence  of  local  health  officers 
on  the  central  board,  but  the  unanimity  of  opinion  on 
the  subject  is  a  strong  indication  that  the  energetic 

^Eeports  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  Vol.  VllI,  p.  9. 
'Ibid.,  Vol.  I,  pp.  101,  111,  aud  363;  Vol.  X,  p.  36. 

le  241 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


exercise  of  the  compulsory  powers  would  be  un- 
wise. ' ' 

Conditions  in  Massachusetts  are  very  similar  to 
those  in  New  York.  Dr.  Whitten,  in  his  "Public  Ad- 
ministration in  Massachusetts,"  says:^  "We  see  .  .  . 
that  although  the  state  board  possesses  great  powers, 
it  can  exerei.se  little  direct  control  over  the  local  au- 
thorities. Its  chief  coercive  powers  are  exercised  upon 
the  individual  directly.  In  many  cases  its  powers 
are  simply  coordinate  with  those  of  the  local  boards; 
either  may  act,  but  in  case  one  acts  there  is  no  neces- 
sity for  action  on  the  part  of  the  other.  This  is  largely 
the  case  with  reference  to  food  and  drug  inspection, 
offensive  trades,  and  contagious  diseases."^ 

Powers  of  Health,  etc.,  Authorities.  A  word  as  to  the 
way  in  which  the  powers  of  these  authorities  are  ex- 
ercised, and  as  to  the  power  the  individual  has  to  ap- 
peal to  the  courts  from  their  decision,  is  necessary  to 
a  correct  understanding  of  the  actual  position  in  the 
eyes  of  the  law  of  the  authorities  provided  for  the 
police  of  public  health  and  safety. 

The  acts  of  individual  application  which  may  be 
done  by  these  authorities  may  take  on  the  form  of  a 
decision  or  an  order.  In  the  case  of  a  decision  no 
further  action  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  may  be 

'P.  72. 

'  See,  also,  Eawles,  ' '  Centralizing  Tendencies  in  the  Admin- 
istration of  Indiana, ' '  Columbia  University  Studies  in  History, 
Economies,  and  Public  Law,  Vol.  XVII,  p.  221 ;  Bowman,  ' '  The 
Administration  of  Iowa,"  Ibid.,  Vol.  XVIII,  p.  145;  Orth, 
' '  The  Centralization  of  Administration  in  Ohio, ' '  ibid.,  Vol. 
XVI,  p.  500. 

242 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


necessary  in  order  to  execute  the  law.  Thus,  if  it  is 
necessary,  as  is  so  often  the  case  in  the  building  law, 
that  plans,  etc.,  must  be  approved  before  action  by 
the  individual  may  legally  be  taken,  the  decision  by 
the  building  police  authority  approving  or  disapprov- 
ing a  given  plan,  exhausts  the  legal  action  of  the  au- 
thority as  to  this  particular  matter.  The  law-abiding 
citizen,  whose  plans  have  been  disapproved,  will 
amend  them  to  suit  the  wishes  of  the  building  police 
authorities. 

In  the  case  of  an  order,  and  even  of  a  decision,  how- 
ever, it  may  be  necessary,  in  order  that  the  law  be  ex- 
ecuted, that  the  building  or  health  authorities  do 
something  further  in  order  to  enforce  the  law.  Thus, 
suppose  that  one  whose  plans  have  been  disapproved 
by  the  building  authorities,  proceeds  to  build  in  accor- 
dance with  the  plans  which  have  been  disapproved,  or 
suppose  a  person  fails  to  abate  a  nuisance  which  he 
has  been  ordered  to  remove  by  the  health  authorities. 
The  mere  order,  in  the  one  case  not  to  build,  or  in  the 
other  to  abate  the  nuisance,  is  not  sufficient  to  cause 
the  law  to  be  executed. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  actions  which  can  then  be 
taken  to  execute  the  law:  first,  the  police  authority 
may  proceed  to  execute  its  order  by  applying  physical 
force  to  the  person  disobeying  its  order  by  arresting 
him,  or  to  the  thing  which  constitutes  the  nuisance  by 
destroying  it,  that  is,  in  the  case  of  a  building,  by  tear- 
ing it  down ;  or,  second,  if  the  order  consists  in  a 
command  to  do  a  certain  thing,  as  for  example,  to  put 
in  sanitary  plumbing  in  the  place  of  unsanitary 
plumbing,  the  disinfection  of  a  place  where  there  has 

243 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


been  a  case  of  contagious  disease,  etc.,  the  police  au- 
thority may  proceed  itself  to  do  the  thing  ordered, 
when  the  expenses  to  which  it  is  put  may  be  made 
either  a  lien  on  the  property  on  which  the  work  has 
been  done,  or  an  obligation  of  the  person  in  default. 
These  expenses  may  be  recovered  either  in  an  action 
before  a  court  or  by  execution  without  resort  to  a 
court. 

The  real  powers  of  authorities  of  sanitary  and  pub- 
lic safety  police  depend  on  the  degree  to  which  they 
may  act  without  resort  to  a  court  of  some  sort  for 
an  order.  Thus,  if  they  may  of  their  own  motion  abate 
a  nui.sance,  pull  down  a  construction,  or  collect  the  ex- 
penses to  which  they  have  been  put  by  the  negligence 
or  refusal  of  some  one  to  act  whose  duty  it  was  to  act, 
they  have  very  wide  powers.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
they  have  in  these  cases  to  get  an  order  of  a  court  of 
some  sort  they  are  subjected  to  a  judicial  control  which 
may  greatly  limit  their  effectiveness. 

The  general  rule  of  the  American  law  is,  in  the  first 
place,  that  there  is  no  constitutional  objection  to  the 
exercise  of  most  of  these  powers  by  administrative  au- 
thorities without  any  judicial  intervention ;  but  that, 
in  the  second  place,  such  powers  are  commonly  granted 
only  in  the  case  of  the  removal  of  nuisances,  and  no 
powers  are  given  them  of  collecting  without  judicial 
intervention  the  expenses  to  which  they  have  been 
put. 

Now,  in  so  far  as  administrative  authorities  are  per- 
mitted to  act  in  these  cases  of  their  own  motion,  with- 
out judicial  intervention,  it  is  necessary  to  provide 
some  means  for  judicial  review  of  their  action.    It  is 

244 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


also  necessary  that  such  a  judicial  review  be  provided 
in  case  of  their  decisions  as,  e.g.,  their  disapproval  of 
building  plans.  This  review  may  extend  to  questions 
of  law  alone  or  to  questions  of  law  and  of  fact. 

Remedies.  Two  methods  of  providing  such  a  review 
are  to  be  found ;  either  the  ordinary  courts  are  given 
jurisdiction,  or  special  courts  which  are  usually  spoken 
of  as  administrative  courts  are  formed  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  former  method  is  the  one  normally  adopted 
in  the  United  States.  In  the  United  States  the 
courts  exercise  their  jurisdiction  through  the  issuance 
of  an  injunction,  or  by  entertaining  suits  for  damages 
against  the  officers  who  have  abated  the  nuisance.  In 
either  kind  of  suit  the  courts  may,  where  the  decision 
of  the  police  authority  as  to  the  existence  of  the  nui- 
sance is  not  made  final  by  law,  review  such  decision 
from  the  point  of  view  of  both  law  and  fact,  and  re- 
verse it  if  they  consider  it  not  justified.  But  they  are 
apt  to  be  guided  in  the  determination  they  make  by 
the  views  of  the  police  authority,  particularly  where 
such  authority  has  acted  in  good  faith  and  where  its 
decision  is  not  absolutely  contrary  to  the  evidence. 
If,  however,  the  determination  of  the  police  authority 
is  made  final  by  the  law,  all  that  the  courts  can  do  is  to 
prevent  the  police  authority  from  depriving  any  one 
of  his  property  without  due  process  of  law,  under  the 
guise  of  the  exercise  of  the  police  power. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  very  incomplete  statement 
of  the  law  that  the  powers  of  sanitary  and  public 
safety  police  authorities  in  the  American  cities  are 
very  large.    This  is  due,  first,  to  the  wide  extent  of 

245 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


their  powers  both  of  ordinance  and  of  individual  order 
of  special  application ;  second,  to  the  fact  that  they 
may  proceed  so  frequently  without  resort  to  judicial 
intervention,  and,  finally,  to  the  fact  that  their  de- 
cisions are  so  frequently  not  susceptible  of  judicial 
review  as  to  the  facts.  It  would  seem  that  the  de- 
cision, by  an  administrative  authority  after  a  hearing, 
that  given  conditions  constitute  a  legally  recognized 
nuisance,  may  constitutionally  be  made  final  and 
not  subject  to  judicial  review,  though  there  is  some 
conflict  in  the  decisions  on  this  point.  A  good  exam- 
ple of  the  extent  and  variety  of  police  powers  of  this 
character  possessed  by  municipal  authorities  is  to  be 
found  in  the  health  provisions  of  the  present  charter 
of  the  city  of  New  York. 

It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  the  powers  pos- 
sessed by  these  authorities  in  the  United  States,  in 
those  cases  in  which  their  powers  are  the  greatest,  are 
not  too  great.  Their  discretion  is  so  wide  and  so  un- 
controlled that  it  offers  large  opportunities  for  official 
oppression ;  and,  if  current  rumor  may  be  credited, 
this  discretion  has  in  the  past  been  made  use  of  in 
many  cases,  not  so  much  to  protect  the  public  safety 
and  health  as  to  enrich  the  officers  of  the  health  and 
building  departments,  or  to  obtain  political  support 
for  the  party  in  control  of  the  city  government. 
Prussia,  in  which  the  legal  conditions  were  at  one 
time  somewhat  the  same  as  they  are  now  in  the  United 
States,  went  through  somewhat  the  same  experience. 
During  the  reactionary  period,  following  the  Revolu- 
tion of  1848,  these  police  powers  were  made  use  of  to 
suppress  the  Liberal  Party :  the  abuse  was  so  great 

246 


POLICE  ADMINISTRATION 


that  after  the  reorganization  of  Germany,  about  1870, 
administrative  courts  were  formed  to  control  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  police  officers  of  health  and  public 
safety,  so  that  it  could  be  used  only  in  the  interest  of 
the  public  health  and  safety,  for  which  it  had  been 
given. 


247 


CHAPTER  X 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  CHARITIES  AND  CORRECTION 

Early  Methods.  In  all  Christian  countries  giving  to 
the  poor  was  from  an  early  time  regarded  as  a  pious 
act.  Its  piety  seems  to  have  been  derived  from  a  con- 
sideration of  its  subjective  rather  than  its  objective 
effects.  It  was  the  benefit  derived  by  the  giver  rather 
than  by  the  recipient  of  charity  which  seems  to  have 
been  in  the  minds  of  Christian  teachers,  and  little  em- 
phasis was  laid  by  the  precepts  of  the  church  on' the 
duty  of  the  giver  to  investigate  into  the  worth  of  the 
recipient.  The  result  of  such  undiscriminating  char- 
ity was  the  development  of  a  class  of  professional  beg- 
gars who  joined  to  their  profession  of  begging  the  in- 
cidental profession  of  pilfering  and  thieving. 

The  intimate  connection  between  poverty  and  crime 
was  perceived  even  before  the  Protestant  Reformation, 
and  in  some  countries  the  attempt  was  made  by  law 
to  confine  begging  for  charitable  aid  to  those  who  were 

'  Authorities :  Folks,  ' '  Municipal  Charities  in  the  United 
States,"  in  "Conference  on  Charities  and  Correction,  1898,"  p. 
106 ;  Coler,  ' '  Municipal  Government , ' '  Columbia  University 
Studies  in  History,  Economics,  and  Public  Law,  Vol.  VIII,  p. 
424;  ibid..  Vol.  IX,  p.  488;  Hid.,  Vol.  XVI,  p.  475;  Hid.,  VoL 
XVII,  p.  142;  ibid.,  Vol.  XVIII,  p.  93. 

248 


CHARITIES  ADMINISTRATION 


disabled.  With  the  coming  of  the  Protestant  Refor- 
mation and  the  secularization  of  the  property  of  mon- 
asteries and  other  similar  institutions,  which  had  been 
largely  devoted  to  the  support  of  the  poor,  these  laws 
were  enforced  with  increased  severity.  At  the  same 
time  the  attempt  was  made  to  find  some  substitute  for 
the  monasteries.  In  England  this  was  found  in  the 
parish,  an  ecclesiastical  institution  which  had  man- 
aged to  survive  the  shock  of  the  period  of  the  Refor- 
mation. Upon  the  parish  was  imposed  the  duty  of 
maintaining  those  who  were  regarded  as  the  worthy 
poor.  The  unworthy  poor  were  treated  as  they  had 
been  treated  before  the  reformation,  that  is,  as  petty 
criminals. 

From  a  very  early  time  in  England  the  normal 
prison  for  the  incarceration  of  all  sorts  of  evil-doers 
was  the  county  jail.  The  great  frequency  of  the 
death  penalty  brought  it  about  that  no  need  was  felt 
for  institutions  for  long-term  convicts.  Practically, 
the  only  long-term  convicts  were  political  offenders 
for  whom  the  royal  castles,  such  as  the  Tower  of  Lon- 
don, sufficed.  County  jails  were  sometimes  found  in 
cities  because  of  the  fact  that  such  cities  were  at  the 
same  time  counties.  In  those  cities  which,  while  not 
cities  of  counties,  at  the  same  time  had  minor  crim- 
inal judicial  functions  to  discharge,  there  were  also 
what  were  know  as  bridewells  or  houses  of  correction. 
The  conditions  of  these  local  prisons  were  of  the  worst 
possible  character.  They  constituted  one  of  the  great- 
est blots  on  the  administrative  history,  not  only  of 
England,  but  of  every  civilized  country.  In  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  owing  largely  to  the 

249 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


exertions  of  John  Howard,  who  had  spent  some  time 
as  a  prisoner  in  the  French  city  of  Brest,  and  who  had 
made  an  investigation  of  the  prisons  both  of  England 
and  of  other  countries,  an  attempt  was  made  to  reform 
the  prison  administration. 

Separation  of  Charities  from  Correction.  The  reform 
of  the  prison  administration  which  has  been  made  in 
all  the  countries  of  the  world  has  been  very  strongly 
marked  by  a  tendency  to  take  away  the  administra- 
tion of  prisons  from  the  control  of  the  local  authori- 
ties, and  to  put  it  in  the  hands  of  the  central  adminis- 
tration. This  has  been  done  in  England  and  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  and  to  a  large  extent  in  the  United 
States.  In  the  United  States,  however,  at  the  present 
time  there  are  quite  a  number  of  cities  which,  like 
the  boroughs  of  counties  in  England  prior  to  the  ref- 
ormation started  by  John  Howard,  have  control  of 
local  houses  of  detention  or  other  correctional  insti- 
tutions. At  the  same  time,  even  in  the  United  States, 
there  is  hardly  a  state  which  has  not  taken  into  its 
own  administration  the  more  important  prisons,  that 
is,  the  prisons  in  which  long-term  prisoners  are  con- 
fined. 

In  the  cities  of  the  United  States  which  have  re- 
tained control  of  correctional  institutions,  it  has  not 
infrequently  been  the  case  in  the  past,  and  is  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  the  case  in  the  present,  that  the  adminis- 
tration of  these  institutions  is  intrusted  to  the  same 
hands  to  which  is  intrusted  the  administration  of  the 
charitable  institutions  supported  by  the  city.  During 
the  last  twenty-five  or  thirty  years,  however,  an  ear- 

250 


CHARITIES  ADMINISTRATION 


iiest  attempt  has  been  made  to  separate  the  adminis- 
tration of  correctional  from  that  of  charitable  insti- 
tutions.^ 

Insane  Poor.  The  attempt  has  also  been  made  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  ordinary  poor  and  the  insane 
poor.  The  support  of  the  insane  poor  has  very  gener- 
ally been  undertaken  by  the  state,  while  that  of  the 
ordinary  poor  is,  with  certain  exceptions  to  be  men- 
tioned, devolved  upon  the  local  corpoi-ations.  Thus, 
in  most  of  the  states  of  the  United  States,  the  insane 
poor  are  supported  by  the  state,  either  in  state  insti- 
tutions or  in  county  institutions.  In  the  latter  case 
the  state  repays  to  the  county  the  sums  expended  by  it 
for  the  support  of  this  class  of  unfortunates.  In  some 
of  the  states  of  the  United  States,  however,  the  support 
and  administration  of  the  insane  poor  are  still  in  the 
hands  of  the  city  authorities.  For  example,  in  the  city 
of  Chicago,  the  commissioners  of  Cook  County,  which 
is  practically  the  same  district  as  the  city  of  Chicago, 
have  under  their  management  not  only  a  county  alms- 
house and  hospital,  but  also  a  county  insane  asylum. 
Thus,  again,  in  Boston  the  insane  poor  are  a  city 
charge,  and  are  put  under  the  management  of  the  in- 
sane hospital  trustees  appointed  by  the  mayor  of  the 
city. 

The  tendency  at  the  present  time  is  to  add  to  the 

*  Of  the  seventy -three  cities  of  over  forty  thousand  inhabitants 
in  the  United  States  in  1890,  twenty-seven  made  a  separation 
of  their  charitable  from  their  correctional  institutions.  See 
"Conference  for  Charities  and  Correction,  1898,"  "Eeport 
on  Municipal  and  County  Charities, ' '  by  Homer  Folks,  p.  106. 

251 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


poor  supported  by  the  state  those  having  diseases,  like 
epilepsy  and  consumption,  that  call  for  special  treat- 
ment involving  considerable  expense.  Thus,  New 
York  state  has  the  Craig  Colony  for  Epileptics,  estab- 
lished in  1894. 

Finally,  the  attempt  is  often  made  to  distin- 
guish between  the  ordinary  poor,  having  a  settle- 
ment in  the  state,  and  the  alien  poor.  The  alien  poor 
are  certainly,  so  far  as  the  expense  of  their  support 
is  concerned,  usually  a  state  charge,  but  while  they 
are  a  state  charge  they  are  usually  maintained  in  in- 
stitutions under  the  direct  management  of  the  local, 
ordinarily  the  county,  authorities. 

We  may  say  then  that  the  tendency  of  the  present 
day  is  to  regard  the  administration  of  correction  as  a 
function  of  the  state  rather  than  of  the  city,  although 
there  are  a  number  of  cities  in  the  United  States  which 
still  have  functions  to  discharge  of  a  correctional  char- 
acter. What  is  true  of  correction  is  also  true  of  those 
branches  of  public  charity  which  relate  to  the  insane 
poor  and  to  the  alien  poor.  Such  being  the  case  we 
may,  perhaps  with  propriety,  confine  our  study  to  the 
institutions  which  have  been  established  in  the  various 
cities  in  order  to  give  aid  to  the  poor  who  are  not  in- 
sane and  who  have  a  settlement  in  the  state. 

Municipal  Charities.  The  extent  of  the  functions 
which  the  city  discharges  relative  to  public  charities 
is  very  largely  dependent  upon  the  position  which  the 
town  has  assumed  in  the  administrative  system  of  the 
state.  Where  the  town  is  an  important  area  of  local 
government,  the  city  has  very  commonly  wide  func- 

252 


CHAEITIES  ADMINISTRATION 


tious  to  discharge  relative  to  the  poor.  Thus,  in  New 
England,  which  is  the  home  of  town  government,  it 
is  said  that  there  is  not  a  single  city  of  more  than 
forty  thousand  inhabitants  which  does  not  do  some 
work  in  the  line  of  public  charities.^  In  some  of  the 
cities  of  New  England,  of  course,  the  work  which  is 
done  in  the  line  of  public  charities  is  more  than  in 
others,  but,  as  a  rule,  every  city  has  municipal  insti- 
tutions for  poor  relief  of  some  sort.  In  the  Middle 
and  the  Western  states,  where  both  the  town  and  the 
county  are  important  areas  of  local  government,  the 
care  of  the  poor  is  by  the  general  law  devolved  upon 
the  town  or  county,  or  upon  both.  In  the  Southern 
states,  where  the  town  does  not  exist,  the  support  of 
the  poor  is  naturally  devolved  entirely  upon  the 
county.  The  result  is  that,  as  a  rule,  the  cities  outside 
of  New  England  which  have  important  functions  rela- 
tive to  public  charity  are  to  be  found  only  in  the 
Middle  and  Western  states,  more  frequently  in  the 
former  than  in  the  latter,  while  in  the  Southern  states 
it  is  seldom  the  case  that  the  city  has  any  functions 
of  importance  to  discharge  relative  to  the  poor.  This 
rule  is,  of  course,  subject  to  exceptions,  particularly  so 
far  as  concerns  the  Middle  and  Western  states.  Thus, 
Buffalo,  Rochester,  Jersey  City,  and  Reading,  Penn- 
sylvania, all  cities  in  the  Middle  states,  have  no  func- 
tions to  discharge  relative  to  poor  relief,  the  matter 
being  a  subject  of  county  administration ;  while  New 
Orleans,  Louisville,  Richmond,  and  Charleston,  all 

*  Ibid.,  p.  108.  In  the  appendix  to  this  article  are  reports 
from  many  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States  having  a  popula- 
tion of  more  than  forty  thousand  in  1890. 

253 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


cities  of  the  Southern  states,  include  poor  relief  within 
their  municipal  activities. 

The  larger  the  cities  are  the  more  liable  they  are  to 
make  poor  relief  a  municipal  function.  Thus,  eight 
of  the  ten  largest  cities,  namely.  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, St.  Louis,  Boston,  Baltimore,  San  Francisco, 
Cincinnati,  and  Cleveland  manage  their  own  poor. 
Of  the  ten  second  largest  cities,  however,  only  five, 
namely  New  Orleans,  Pittsburg,  Washington,  Newark, 
and  Louisville  have  any  important  functions  relative 
to  poor  relief,  while  in  the  remaining  five,  namely, 
Detroit,  Milwaukee,  Jersey  City,  and  Minneapolis,— 
which  has  no  almshouse  but  supports  a  hospital,— and 
Kansas  City,  Missouri,  the  poor  relief  is  attended  to 
by  the  county  in  which  the  city  is  situated. 

Organization  of  City  Poor  Authority.  The  methods 
adopted  for  organizing  the  municipal  poor  authority 
vary  greatly.  In  some  cities  we  find  a  board,  in  others 
a  single  commissioner.  In  a  number  of  the  cities 
where  there  are  boards  the  members  of  the  board  are 
paid,  in  others  they  are  unpaid.  In  some  of  the  cities 
some  of  the  members  are  paid,  or  there  is  a  paid  secre- 
tary. As  a  general  thing,  where  the  board  is  a  large 
one,  its  members  are  unpaid.  Where,  however,  the 
board  is  small,  e.g.,  composed  of  three  members,  these 
members  are  frequently  paid.  The  size  of  the  city 
seems  to  have  very  little  influence  upon  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  poor  authority.  Thus,  in  New  York,  Cin- 
cinnati, Cleveland,  New  Orleans,  Pittsburg,  and  Wash- 
ington, and  in  the  counties  in  which  But¥alo  and  Mil- 
waukee are  situated,  there  is  a  paid  commissioner.  On 

254 


CHARITIES  ADMINISTRATION 


the  other  hand,  in  Philadelphia,  St.  Louis,  Boston, 
Baltimore,  San  Francisco,  Newark,  Minneapolis,  and 
the  county  in  which  Detroit  is  situated,  there  is  an 
unpaid  board.  The  geographical  location  of  the  cities 
does  not  seem  to  have  much  influence  on  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  poor  authority  as  the  list  of  the  cities,  whose 
names  have  been  given,  shows.  It  may,  however,  be 
said  that  in  general  the  cities  of  New  England  have 
adopted  the  idea  of  an  unpaid  board,  while  the  cities 
of  the  South  have  adopted  the  idea  of  paid  service. 
The  only  city  in  the  South  relying  on  unpaid  service 
is  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  The  cities  in  the  Mid- 
dle states  tend  toward  the  unpaid  board,  while  the 
cities  of  the  West,  like  those  of  the  South,  tend  toward 
salaried  service.  There  are,  however,  many  exceptions 
to  this  statement. 

The  methods  of  appointment  also  vary  greatly. 
The  two  most  common  methods  are  appointment  by 
the  mayor  or  appointment  by  the  city  council,  with 
the  majority  slightly  in  favor  of  appointment  by  the 
mayor,  which  is  the  rule  in  the  larger  cities.  In  quite 
a  respectable  number  of  cities,  however,  the  poor  offi- 
cers are  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city.  There  are, 
however,  almost  no  cities  of  any  size  which  have 
adopted  this  method.  In  a  few  cases,  as,  for  example, 
St.  Paul,  Scranton,  and  Memphis,  the  poor  officers 
are  appointed  by  the  judges  of  some  court,  while  in  the 
city  of  San  Francisco  they  were,  prior  to  the  adoption 
of  the  present  charter,  appointed  by  the  governor  of 
the  state  of  California. 

The  lack  of  uniformity  on  the  part  of  different 
cities  with  regard  both  to  the  character  of  the  poor 

255 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


authority  and  to  the  methods  of  filling  the  office,  and 
the  frequent  changes  which  are  made  in  the  system, 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  no  method  as  yet  devised 
has  been  altogether  satisfactory.  Indeed,  the  papers 
read  at  the  various  conferences  of  charities  and  correc- 
tion are  full  of  complaints  as  to  the  pernicious  influ- 
ence of  politics  upon  the  poor  administration.  But  the 
later  papers  bear  evidence  of  an  improvement  in  the 
conditions.  This  improvement  appears  to  have  been 
made  as  much  under  one  form  of  organization  as  under 
another.  The  general  opinion  of  those  interested  in 
and  acquainted  with  the  administration  of  city  chari- 
ties seems  to  be  in  favor  of  a  single  paid  commissioner. 
An  exception  might,  perhaps,  be  made  in  favor  of 
hospitals  for  the  sick  which  are  sometimes  managed 
by  an  unpaid  board.  The  city  of  New  York  has  re- 
cently adopted  this  plan  for  certain  of  its  hospitals, 
following  the  example  of  Boston  and  Cincinnati, 
where  hospital  boards  are  regarded  with  favor. 

Seldom  is  it  the  case  that  the  administrative  organi- 
zation adopted  for  the  management  of  public  charities 
attempts  to  enlist  in  the  city's  work  of  relieving  the 
poor  the  services  of  unpaid  friendly  visitors.  Seldom, 
if  ever,  is  the  attempt  made  in  the  cities  of  the  United 
States  to  divide  the  city  up  into  districts  in  which  such 
unpaid  friendly  visitors  may  work.  So  far  as  any  re- 
liance at  all  is  laid  upon  such  friendly  visitors,  it  is 
due  to  the  work  of  charity  organizations  and  similar  so- 
cieties which  are  based  entirely  upon  voluntary  effort. 
The  model  which  the  city  of  Elberfeld,  in  Germany, 
has  offered  to  city  government  has  been  copied  in  the 
United  States,not  by  the  city  itself, but  by  those  volun- 

256 


CHARITIES  ADMINISTRATION 


tary  organizations  which  often  by  cooperation  with 
the  municipal  poor  authorities  have  done  so  much  to 
improve  the  conditions  of  the  public  charitable  insti- 
tiitions. 

The  extent  of  the  work  done  by  the  cities  of  the 
United  States  for  the  poor  varies  considerably.  In 
many  of  the  cities  of  the  South  and  West,  where  the 
legal  burden  of  supporting  the  poor  is  imposed  upon 
the  county,  the  city  merely  supplements  the  work  of 
the  county  by  distributing  outdoor  relief.  In  these 
cases  the  work  of  the  city  is  practically  confined  to 
the  distribution  of  such  outdoor  relief.  In  other  cities, 
in  addition  to  giving  outdoor  relief,  the  city  govern- 
ment supports  as  well  a  hospital.  Finally,  in  a  very 
^ew  cities  no  outdoor  relief  whatever  is  given,  or  it  is 
confined  to  the  distribution  of  coal.  Such  is  the  case, 
for  example,  in  New  York,  St.  Louis,  Baltimore,  San 
Francisco,  New  Orleans,  Louisville,  Kansas  City,  Den- 
ver, Atlanta,  Memphis,  Charleston,  and  Savannah. 
In  a  paper  read  at  the  Conference  of  Charities  and 
Correction  in  1898,  the  statement  was  made  that  of 
the  forty  largest  cities  of  the  country  only  ten  do  not 
give  outdoor  relief.^  The  greatest  amount  of  outdoor 
relief  given  by  any  city  in  one  year  is  about  $140,000, 
which  is  the  amount  distributed  by  Chicago,  Detroit, 
and  Boston. 

Many  of  the  cities,  of  which  New  York  is  the  most 
marked  example,  supplement  the  work  done  by  the  city 
through  its  own  officers  by  grants  of  money  to  private 
charitable  institutions.  In  New  York  this  grant  has  in 
most  recent  years  amounted  to  nearly  $2,000,000,  al- 
'  Conference  of  1898,  p.  182. 
"  257 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


most  all  of  which  is  appropriated  to  the  use  of  institu- 
tions established  for  the  relief  of  children.  This  use 
of  public  money  is  made  necessary  by  a  law  of  1875, 
which  forbids  the  detention  of  children  in  almshouses. 
It  has  been  impossible  for  the  city  to  provide  in  any 
other  way  for  the  support  of  dependent  children. 
Two  of  the  cities  in  the  United  States  rely  exclusively 
upon  this  method  of  relieving  the  poor:  these  are  At- 
lanta and  Savannah.  This  method  of  supporting  the 
poor  is  liable  to  great  abuse,  both  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  city's  finances,  and  from  that  of  enlight- 
ened charity.i 

Finally,  in  addition  to  maintaining  almshouses  and 
hospitals,  and  giving  outdoor  relief  and  grants  in  aid 
of  private  charitable  institutions,  a  few  cities,  of  which 
New  York  and  Boston  are  examples,  maintain  muni- 
cipal lodging-houses. 

State  Control.  The  administration  of  public  charities 
in  urban  as  well  as  in  the  rural  districts  of  the  United 
States  has  been,  within  the  last  forty  years,  subjected 
to  a  central  administrative  control,  which  is  exercised 
by  a  state  board  of  charities.  The  first  state  board  was 
established  in  Massachusetts  in  the  year  1863.  This 
board  originally  had  the  supervision  of  both  charities 
and  correction,  but  by  subsequent  legislation  its  juris- 
diction was  confined  to  institutions  granting  poor  re- 
lief only.  The  supervision  of  correctional  institutions, 
as  well  as  of  lunatic  asylums,  has  been  given  to  an- 
other board.  Similar  state  boards  have  been  estab- 
lished in  twenty-five  states.  In  some  cases  the  state 
'  Coler,  ' '  Municipal  Government, ' '  Chapter  ii. 
258 


CHARITIES  ADMINISTRATION 


board  has  supervision,  as  in  the  case  of  the  original 
Massachusetts  board,  not  merely  over  charitable  but 
also  over  correctional  institutions.  In  a  few  of  the 
states  the  state  board  is  not  merely  a  board  of  super- 
vision over  local  charities,  but  is  also  an  administrative 
board  which  administers  separately  the  affairs  of 
either  the  state  charitable  or  the  state  correctional  in- 
stitutions, or  both.  Such,  for  example,  is  the  position 
occupied  by  the  Iowa  state  board  of  control,  which  has 
been  the  subject  of  so  much  comment  during  the  last 
few  years. 

The  organization  of  the  state  boards  is  usually  as 
follows :  They  are  composed  of  a  number  of  members, 
chosen  from  different  parts  of  the  state,  who  receive 
no  pay,  serve  for  long  terms,  which  are  so  arranged 
that  only  a  small  number  of  the  members  of  the  board 
will  go  out  at  the  same  time,  and  have  under  them  a 
salaried  secretary  who  attends  to  the  detailed  work. 
Where  the  system  has  been  most  highly  organized,  as, 
for  example,  in  New  York,  the  state  board  has  under 
it  also  a  corps  of  salaried  inspectors  whose  duty  it  is 
to  investigate  the  conditions  of  the  institutions  sub- 
jected to  the  supervision  of  the  board.  In  other  cases, 
as  in  those  states  where  the  system  has  not  received  a 
high  development,  the  work  of  inspection  is  supposed 
to  be  done  by  the  members  of  the  board.^ 

The  powers  possessed  by  these  boards  vary  consid- 
erably. Some  of  the  boards  have  little  more  than  ad- 
visory powers;  their  work  is  expected  to  be  largely 

'A  good  article  on  the  "Value  of  State  Boards"  is  to  be 
found  in  the  ' '  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction  of  1894, ' ' 
on  p.  9. 

259 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


educational  in  character.  Such,  for  example,  is  the 
position  of  the  board  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts.* 
In  other  states,  however,  they  have  really  important 
supervisory  powers.  This  is  the  case  with  the  state 
board  of  charities  of  New  York.  In  addition  to  hav- 
ing duties  of  an  administrative  character  relative  to 
that  class  of  the  poor  known  as  the  state  poor,  the  New 
York  state  board  of  charities  has  important  super- 
visory powers  relative  to  the  charitable  institutions  of 
the  local  corporations,  particularly  those  of  the  cities. 
For  example,  an  act  of  1896  gives  them  the  power 
"to  establish  rules  for  the  reception  and  retention  of 
inmates  at  the  institutions  under  private  control  but 
supported  in  part  by  counties,  cities,  towns,  and  vil- 
lages, and  under  the  constitution  payments  may  be 
made  to  such  institutions  only  for  inmates  received 
in  accordance  with  such  rules. ' '  ^  Another  provision 
of  the  act  of  1896  gave  the  board  authority  to  appoint 
inspectors. 

The  immediate  effect  of  the  exercise  by  the  state 
board  of  charities  in  New  York  of  the  increased  pow- 
ers given  it  in  1896,  was  to  decrease  the  number  of 
inmates  who  are  a  public  charge  in  the  one  hundred 
and  twenty  institutions  for  the  care  of  destitute  and 
dependent  children.  It  is  estimated  that  the  financial 
result  of  the  observance  of  the  rules  by  the  city  of 

^  Whitten,  op.  cit.,  Chaps,  in  and  iv.  See,  also,  for  Ohio,  Orth, 
op.  cit.,  p.  113. 

^  Fairlie,  ' '  Centralization  of  Administration  in  New  York, ' ' 
in  Columbia  University  Studies  in  History,  Economies,  and 
Public  Law,  Vol.  IX,  p.  107;  see  also  Bowman,  op.  cit..  Chap, 
in,  for  Iowa;  Eawles,  op.  cit.,  Chap,  in,  for  Indiana. 

260 


CHARITIES  ADMINISTRATION 


New  York  for  the  ten  months  ending  December  31, 
1896,  was  a  saving  to  the  city  of  $450,000.i 

While  few  of  the  states  have  developed  a  state  board 
with  the  powers  possessed  by  the  New  York  state  board 
of  charities,  the  tendency  toward  the  increase  of  the 
powers  of  the  boards  already  established  is  very 
marked.  Thus  it  has  been  said  that  "in  the  field  of 
charity  and  correction  the  tendency  is  plainly  in  the 
direction  of  the  increasing  exercise  of  administrative 
power  and  of  supervision  by  the  state.  The  agents  of 
the  whole  community  are  now  exercising  powers  in 
matters  which  before  were  either  left  to  the  local  units 
of  government  or  were  wholly  neglected.  This  ten- 
dency which  is  seen  in  every  field  of  interest,  follows 
naturally  from  the  growth  of  communities  and  their 
closer  relation  to  each  other.  But  it  means  also  that 
the  leaders  in  charitable  thought  and  action  see  that 
local  interest  in  charity  is  often  weak  or  ignorant  of 
the  best  standards,  and  that  on  the  sovereign  state 
rests  the  solemn  duty  of  insuring  that  the  forms  and 
powers  of  administration  are  the  best  available 
ones. ' '  ^ 

Fairlie,  p.  108. 

-"Conference  of  Charities  and  (!orreetion,  1902,"  "Keport 
of  the  Committee  on  State  Supervision,  and  Administration  of 
Charities  and  Correction,"  p.  127, 


261 


CHAPTER  XI 


SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION  ^ 

Early  Methods.  Until  a  comparatively  recent  time  in 
the  history  of  cities  the  matter  of  education,  like  that 
of  charities,  was  considered  to  be  a  function  of  the 
church  rather  than  the  city,  or,  indeed,  of  any  gov- 
ernmental organization.  It  is  true  that  from  quite  an 
early  time  the  cities  in  the  Protestant  countries  of 
Europe  aided,  by  grants  of  money,  the  churches  in 
their  attempts  to  establish  an  educational  system.  In 
the  state  of  Massachusetts,  further,  from  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  establishment  and  the 
maintenance  by  governmental  authorities  of  primary 
schools  were  made  obligatory  by  law.  But  the  cities 
of  the  United  States  did  not  take  up  seriously  the  mat- 
ter of  public  schools  until  about  the  middle  of  the 

*  Authorities :  Eollins,  ' '  School  Administration  in  Municipal 

Government,"  a  dissertation  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Phi- 
losophy in  the  Faculty  of  Philosophy,  Columbia  University, 
June,  1902;  Butler,  "Education  in  the  United  States;"  Fair- 
lie,  ' '  Municipal  Administration ; ' '  Young,  ' '  Municipal  School 
Administration, ' '  in  Annals  of  American  Academy  of  Political 
and  Social  Science,  Vol.  XV,  p.  171;  Webster,  "Recent  Cen- 
tralizing Tendencies  in  State  Educational  Administration,"  in 
Columbia  University  Studies,  etc.,  Vol.  VIII,  No.  2. 

262 


SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


nineteenth  century.  Since  1850,  however,  it  may  be 
said  that  in  almost  all  the  cities  of  the  United  States 
a  great  deal  of  money  has  been  expended  by  the  city 
governments  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
rather  elaborate  school  systems. 

In  addition  to  maintaining  schools  for  the  education 
of  children  and,  in  a  number  of  cases,  of  illiterate 
adults,  the  cities  of  the  United  States  have  in  many 
eases  established,  either  in  close  connection  with  their 
school  systems  or  separate  therefrom,  public  libraries 
and  museums.  In  some  cases,  further,  they  make  pre- 
vision for  quite  elaborate  courses  of  public  lectures. 
Finally,  a  very  few  of  the  cities  support,  as  well,  in- 
stitutions of  higher  instruction.  Thus,  for  example, 
the  city  of  New  York  maintains  the  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  an  institution  of  higher  instruc- 
tion for  boys,  while  the  city  of  Cincinnati  gives  con- 
siderable aid  to  the  University  of  Cincinnati. 

Organization  of  City  School  Authorities.  Whatever  may 
be  the  extent  of  the  work  of  the  city  in  the  field  of 
education,  the  school  authority,  which  in  all  cases  has 
charge  of  the  primary  and  secondary  schools  and  in 
some  other  cases  as  well  of  other  educational  in- 
stitutions, is  a  board  of  education  or  a  school-board. 
In  only  one  city  of  importance,  namely,  Buffalo, 
is  the  matter  in  the  charge  of  the  city  council. 
In  this  city  a  committee  of  the  council  performs  the 
duties  which  in  most  of  the  cities  of  the  United  States 
are  attended  to  by  the  school-board.  The  cities  of  the 
United  States,  in  which  there  is  a  school-board  sep- 
arate and  apart  from  the  council,  may  be  put  into  two 

263 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


classes:  in  the  first  class  are  to  be  included  those  in 
which  the  school-board  is  regarded  as  a  department 
of  the  city  government;  in  the  second,  those  in  which 
the  school-board  is  treated  not  as  a  department  of  the 
city  government,  but  as  a  public  corporation  separate 
and  apart  from  the  corporation  of  the  city.  In  this 
last  class  of  cities  the  board,  however  its  members  may 
be  appointed,  has  in  its  own  control  the  raising  of  the 
funds  which  are  necessary  to  carry  on  the  schools 
under  their  charge,  as  well  as  the  uncontrolled  expen- 
diture of  these  funds.  This  is  the  position  of  the  city 
school  authority  in  Cincinnati,  Pittsburg,  Indianap- 
olis, Denver,  Toledo,  Allegheny,  St.  Louis,  and  other 
cities.  Even  in  this  class  of  cities,  however,  the  col- 
lection of  the  taxes  which  have  been  voted  by  the 
school-board  is  frequently  a  function  of  the  city  gov- 
ernment. It  is  seldom,  if  ever,  the  case  that  a  city 
school-board,  no  matter  how  wide  its  powers,  has  the 
same  functions  which,  for  example,  the  school-district 
has  in  the  state  of  New  York,  where  the  power  not 
merely  of  voting,  but  of  assessing  and  collecting,  the 
school  taxes  is  devolved  upon  the  school  trustees  and 
their  subordinate  assessors  and  collectors.^ 

In  the  cities  which  treat  the  school-board  as  a  de- 
partment of  the  municipal  government,  the  functions 
of  the  board  are  very  nearly  the  same  as  the  functions 

^  See  Kowe,  ' '  The  Financial  Relation  of  the  Department  of 
Education  to  the  City  Government, ' '  Annals  of  American  Acad- 
emy of  Political  and  Social  Science,  Vol.  XV,  p.  186,  who 
makes  a  strong  plea  for  the  grant  of  the  independent  taxing 
power  to  city  school-boards. 

264 


SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


of  the  ordinary  head  of  department  with  reference  to 
his  department.  That  is,  the  school-board  makes  up  its 
estimate  of  the  amount  of  money  which  it  thinks  it  will 
require  in  order  to  carry  on  the  schools  for  the  coming 
year,  and  this  estimate  is  subject  to  revision  by  the 
authority  of  the  city  government  which  ultimately 
determines  the  amount  of  money  to  be  spent  by  the 
city  departments.  This  is  the  position  occupied  by 
the  school-board  in  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  San  Fran- 
cisco, Milwaukee,  Newark,  Louisville,  Providence,  St. 
Paul,  and  other  cities.^ 

In  some  of  the  cities  peculiar  arrangements  have 
been  made  which  cause  the  school-board  to  approxi- 
mate more  closely  to  the  type  to  which,  from  the  gen- 
eral point  of  view,  it  does  not  belong.  For  example, 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  which,  as  a  general  thing, 
treats  the  board  of  education  as  a  department  of  the 
city  government,  a  recent  statute  has  provided  that  a 
certain  tax  must  be  levied,  by  the  authorities  vested 
with  the  taxing  power,  for  the  support  of  the  teach- 
ing and  supervising  officers  of  the  schools,  whose  sala- 
ries are  fixed  by  law.  The  amount  of  money  which 
may  be  spent  on  this  branch  of  educational  activity 
is  thus  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  ordinary  muni- 
cipal authorities  and,  within  the  limits  of  the  law, 

'  For  a  table  giving  the  particulars  with  regard  to  the  or- 
ganization and  powers  of  school-boards,  see  Eollins,  ' '  School 
Administration  in  Municipal  Government, ' '  a  dissertation  sub- 
mitted in  partial  fulfilment  of  the  requirements  for  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  in  the  Faculty  of  Philosophy, 
Columbia  University,  June,  1902. 

265 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


vested  in  those  of  the  school-board,  although  from 
other  points  of  view  the  school-board  is  little  more 
than  a  department  of  the  city  administration. 

In  all  cases,  however,  it  will  be  noticed  that  the 
school  authority  is  a  board.  The  reason  for  this  uni- 
versal departure  from  the  type  of  municipal  depart- 
mental organization  generally  accepted  at  the  present 
time  is  to  be  found  in  the  desire  to  keep  the  schools 
out  of  politics  and  interest  as  many  persons  as  possible 
in  their  management.  The  schools  are  believed  to  be 
kept  out  of  politics  through  the  provision  that  the 
members  of  the  board  shall  not  hold  terms  which  ex- 
pire at  the  same  time.  Every  year  or  two  years,  or 
whatever  term  may  be  determined  upon,  a  certain 
number  of  the  members  of  the  board  are  renewed.  It 
will  thus  take  a  number  of  years  before  any  one  polit- 
ical party  can  obtain  control  of  the  school  adminis- 
tration. 

The  position  which  has  Been  assigned  to  the  school- 
board  has  an  influence  upon  the  method  by  which  the 
members  of  the  board  are  selected.  If  the  school- 
board  belongs  to  that  type  to  which  reference  has  been 
made,  the  characteristic  of  which  is,  that  it  is  in  the 
nature  of  a  special  corporation  separate  from  the  cor- 
poration of  the  city,  the  members  of  the  school-board 
are  in  almost  all  cases  elected  by  the  people.  Even 
in  the  case  where  the  school-board  is  treated  merely  as 
a  department  of  the  city  government,  the  principle  of 
election  is  also  in  some  cases  adopted.  Indeed,  fifty- 
five  cities  in  the  United  States  choose  their  school- 
boards  by  election.^  In  those  cities  which  treat  their 
Ubid,  p.  22. 

266 


SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


school-boards  as  a  department  of  the  city  government, 
the  tendency,  however,  is  toward  providing  that  the 
members  of  the  board  shall  be  appointed  by  the  mayor 
and  council  or  by  the  mayor  alone.  While  election 
by  the  people  and  appointment  by  the  mayor,  either 
with  or  without  the  approval  of  the  council,  may  be 
said  to  be  the  prevailing  methods  for  filling  the  posi- 
tion of  member  of  the  school-board,  in  some  of  the 
most  important  cities  of  the  United  States  a  departure 
is  made  from  these  methods.  Thus,  for  example,  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia  the  school-board  is  composed 
,of  one  member  from  each  of  thirty-six  sections  into 
which  the  city  is,  for  the  purpose  of  school  represen- 
tation, divided,  and  these  thirty-six  members  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  judges  of  the  state  court  of  common 
pleas.  In  New  Orleans  also  the  members  of  the  city 
school-board  are  in  large  part  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernor. 

Where  the  school-board^  are  elected,  they  are  elected 
either  by  general  or  by  district  ticket.  Of  the  fifty-five 
cities  in  the  United  States  electing  members  of  the 
school-board,  twenty-four  elect  from  the  city  at  large, 
twenty-eight  from  the  district,  and  three  by  a  combi- 
nation of  these  plans.  The  largest  cities  have  gener- 
ally adopted  the  general  ticket.  This  is  the  case,  for 
example,  in  St.  Louis,  Boston,  Cleveland,  Minneapolis, 
Indianapolis,  Kansas  City,  and  other  less  important 
cities.  In  some  cases  the  election  is  at  the  same  time 
as  the  general  state  election  or  the  municipal  elec- 
tion, if  that  is  separate  from  the  general  state  election, 
while  in  other  cities  the  election  takes  place  at  a  special 
time  appointed  for  the  particular  purpose  of  school 

267 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


elections.  In  a  number  of  the  cities  provision  is  made 
for  local  boards  which  sometimes,  as  in  Philadelphia 
and  Pittsburg,  have  very  large  powers,  and  in  others, 
as  in  New  York,  have  merely  supervisory  and  consul- 
tative powers.^ 

The  size  of  the  school-board  depends  upon  the  ex- 
tent to  which  the  principle  of  interesting  as  many  per- 
sons as  possible  in  the  management  of  the  schools  has 
been  applied.  This  would  appear  to  have  been  the 
principle  whose  application  was  the  most  desired  for 
a  long  time  in  the  history  of  our  municipal  educational 
administration.  Within  recent  years,  however,  par- 
ticularly in  the  larger  cities,  the  feeling  has  become 
stronger  that  what  is  needed  is  not  so  much  popular 
interest  in  the  schools  as  efficient  school  administra- 
tion. The  growth  of  the  belief  in  the  necessity  of  effi- 
cient school  administration  has  resulted  in  lessening 
the  number  of  the  members  of  the  school-board.  The 
number  varies  from  forty-six  in  the  case  of  New  York 
to  four  in  the  case  of  San  Francisco.  The  tendency  is 
toward  a  small  board.  Thus  quite  recently  the  San 
Francisco  board  was  reduced  from  twelve  to  four; 
that  of  Baltimore  from  twenty-nine  to  nine ;  that  of 
St.  Louis  from  twenty-one  to  twelve ;  that  of  In- 
dianapolis from  eleven  to  five ;  that  of  Milwaukee 
from  thirty-six  to  twenty-one;  that  of  Atlanta  from 
fourteen  to  seven.  In  some  of  the  cities  where  the 
number  of  the  members  of  the  board  is  very  small, 
salaries  are  paid,  as  in  San  Francisco.  As  a  rule,  how- 
ever, service  as  a  member  of  the  school-board  is  un- 
paid. 

'See  Table  referred  to  on  p.  265. 

268 


SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 

Separation  of  Educational  from  Physical  Administra- 
tion. When  city  schools  were  originally  established, 
the  school-board  had  practically  complete  charge  over 
both  the  physical  and  educational  administration  of 
the  schools.  Within  recent  years,  however,  there  has 
been  a  tendency  toward  a  differentiation  of  these  func- 
tions with  the  result  that  the  school-board  has,  in 
the  cities  which  are  regarded  as  having  the  best  school 
systems,  been  confined  to  the  management  of  the  phy- 
sical administration  of  the  schools.  The  educational 
administration  has  been  granted  to  a  professional  ex- 
pert force,  at  the  head  of  which  is  placed  a  super- 
intendent of  schools  or  similar  officer.  The  superin- 
tendent of  schools  seems  to  have  developed  about  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Most  commonly, 
particularly  in  the  larger  cities,  this  officer  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  school-board  ;  in  some  cases,  however,  he 
is  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city.  In  either  case 
his  term  is  usually  a  fixed  one,  varying  from  six 
years,  as  in  New  York,  to  one  year,  as  in  Philadel- 
phia. As  a  general  thing,  his  term  is  three  or  four 
years.  The  superintendent  usually  has  the  power  of 
recommending  the  appointment  of  teachers  who  are 
appointed  by  the  school-board.  The  powers  of  the  su- 
perintendent are  the  greatest  in  the  city  of  Cleveland, 
which  has  a  peculiar  school  system.  The  Cleveland 
superintendent  is  appointed  by  an  officer  peculiar  to 
the  Cleveland  system,  known  as  the  school-director, 
and  confirmed  by  the  board;  he  has  a  t(M-m  during 
good  behavior  and  appoints  all  of  the  teachers.  Gener- 
ally, the  power  which  appoints  the  teachers  is  confined 

269 


CITY  (iOVERJsMENT  I\  THE  UNITED  STATES 


in  its  selection  to  those  persons  who  have  teachers'  cer- 
tificates. These  are  granted  only  after  an  examination 
which  sometimes,  though  not  usually  is  competitive. 

There  is  a  tendency  at  the  present  time— not,  how- 
ever, very  marked  in  character— to  differentiate  the 
administrative  from  the  legislative  side  of  the  physi- 
cal administration  of  the  schools,  and  to  confine  the 
action  of  the  school-board  to  the  legislative  part  of 
the  work.  Such  a  differentiation  was  recommended 
by  the  committee  of  fifteen  appointed  by  the  National 
Educational  Association  for  the  drafting  of  a  model 
municipal  educational  system.^ 

The  differentiation  of  the  administrative  from  the 
legislative  side  of  school  administration  is  the  theory 
at  the  bottom  of  the  Cleveland  system.  To  the  school- 
director,  to  whom  reference  has  been  made,  and  who 
is  elected  by  the  people  of  the  city  for  a  term  of  two 
years,  the  administrative  side  of  the  physical  admin- 
istration of  the  schools  is  given.  The  director  de- 
votes all  his  time  to  the  work  and  receives  a  salary  of 
$5,000  a  year.  He  occupies  somewhat  the  same  rela- 
tion to  the  school  administration  that  the  mayor, 
under  the  ordinary  municipal  charter,  occupies  with 
reference  to  the  general  administrative  system  of  the 
eity.^  A  similar  officer  is  found  in  the  school  system 
of  the  city  of  Indianapolis.    There  the  school-director 

^  See  Butler,  ' '  Education  in  the  United  States, ' '  particularly 
the  monograph  on  ' '  Educational  Organization  and  Administra- 
tion,"  by  Andrew  D.  Draper,  p.  14. 

^  Since  this  was  written  the  Cleveland  system  has  been  greatly 
changed. 

270 


SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


is  elected  by  the  school-board,  but  has  a  veto  over  its 
acts  which  may  be  overcome  by  a  repassage  of  the  act 
vetoed. 

AVhile  the  differentiation  of  the  legislative  from  the 
administrative  side  of  the  physical  administration  of 
schools  has  not  received  any  very  wide  application  in 
the  United  States,  its  adoption  in  the  two  cities  to 
which  reference  has  been  made  is  interesting  and  sig- 
nificant. When  taken  together  with  the  other  develop- 
ments in  school  administration,  it  cannot  fail  to  leave 
the  impression  that  the  school-board  is  succumbing  to 
the  same  influences  that  destroyed  the  city  council, 
and  that  in  time  there  will  be  a  school  department  with 
a  single  commissioner  at  its  head,  having  toward  the 
school  department  about  the  same  powers  and  duties 
that  the  single  commissioner  or  other  executive  de- 
partment head  has  toward  his  department.  Reduced 
in  numbers,  in  some  cases  composed  of  salaried  mem- 
bers, its  educational  functions  lost  to  the  superinten- 
dent, its  executive  functions  going  to  a  director,  the 
school-board  will  not  have  enough  to  do  to  attract  men 
who  are  interested  in  the  schools  and  will  soon  come 
to  occupy,  if  the  movement  keeps  on  at  the  same  pace, 
a  position  of  as  little  influence  as  that  which  has  been 
accorded  to  the  city  council  by  the  charters  of  many 
of  our  cities. 

State  Control.  The  same  tendency  toward  the  subjec- 
tion of  the  city  in  its  management  of  schools  to  the 
control  of  the  state,  is  evident,  as  is  seen,  in  the  rela- 
tions of  the  state  toward  the  charitable  work  of  cities. 
In  most  of  the  states  of  the  United  States  there  is  an 

271 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


officer  known  as  the  superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion, or  superintendent  of  common  schools,  to  whom  is 
given  a  large  power  of  supervision  over  the  cities  in 
their  discharge  of  their  school  duties.  In  a  number 
of  states  there  is  not  only  a  state  superintendent  of 
education, — there  is,  also,  a  state  board  of  education, 
which  has  certain  functions  of  supervision  to  dis- 
charge. The  powers  of  the  state  officers  over  the  local 
management  of  schools  relate  to  compulsory  educa- 
tion, the  state  regulation  of  text-books  and  courses  of 
study,  and  state  control  of  teachers'  examinations. ^ 

The  methods  by  which  the  state  supervisory  educa- 
tional officers  exercise  their  control  over  the  local  man- 
agement of  schools  are :  first,  the  power  to  withhold 
the  aid  which  is  granted  by  the  state  to  the  localities ; 
and,  second,  the  power  to  hear  appeals  from  the  de- 
cision of  the  local  school  authorities.  In  a  few  states 
the  state  superintendent  has  also  important  powers  of 
removing  local  school  officers,  and  of  obliging  delin- 
quent localities  to  take  the  action  which  is  necessary 
in  order  that  the  schools  may  be  properly  conducted. 
The  extent  of  the  powers  possessed  by  the  state  super- 
visory officials  and  the  methods  by  means  of  which 
they  may  exercise  their  powers,  vary,  of  course,  very 
much  from  state  to  state.  Probably  in  no  state  would 
the  supervisory  state  officers  have  all  the  powers  to 
which  reference  has  been  made.  The  state  in  which 
the  powers  of  the  superintendent  of  education,  or  simi- 
lar officer,  are  greatest  is,  perhaps,  the  state  of  New 

'  See  Webster,  ' '  Eeeent  Centralizing  Tendencies  in  the  State 
Educational  Administration,"  in  Columbia  University  Studies 
iu  History,  Economics,  and  Public  Law,  Vol.  VIII. 

272 


SCHOOL  ADMINISTRATION 


York.  Here  the  state  superintendent  has  large  pow- 
ers of  removing  school  officers,  of  hearing  appeals 
from  the  decision  of  local  school  officers,  of  enforcing 
a  uniform  course  of  study,  and  of  examining  and 
licensing  teachers.^ 

'  See  Fairlie,  ' '  Centralization  of  Administration  in  tlie  State 
of  New  York,"  p.  39. 


18 


273 


CHAPTER  XII 


PUBLIC  WORKS  ADMINISTRATION  ^ 

Physical  Conditions  of  Cities  in  Olden  Times.  We  have 
seen  that  the  great  development  of  municipal  activity 
since  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  been 
in  the  line  of  local  improvements.  It  is  difficult  for 
the  inhabitant  of  the  modern  city  to  conceive  of  the 
physical  conditions  of  the  cities  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. It  is  only  Avhen  we  read  of  the  conditions  of 
even  the  great  political  capitals  of  Europe,  prior  to  the 
opening  of  the  nineteenth  century,  that  we  get  even  an 
inadequate  idea  of  what  municipal  life  then  was.  The 
cities  were  commonly  not  lighted,  were  poorly  paved, 
if  paved  at  all,  and  were  almost  never  swept.  Sewers 
hardly  existed,  and  no  means  was  provided  by  the  city 
government  for  intra-urban  transportation  or  com- 
munication. Public  parks  were  not  known  except  so 
far  as  the  gardens  and  grounds  surrounding  the  pal- 
aces of  the  great  may  be  regarded  as  doing  the  duty 
done  by  the  parks  with  which  all  cities  of  any  size  are 
now  endowed.* 

'  Authorities :  Whinery,  ' '  Municipal  Public  Works ; ' '  Zueb- 
lin,  ' '  American  Municipal  Progress ; ' '  Fairlie,  ' '  Municipal 
Administration,"  Chaps,  xi  and  xii. 

-  For  an  interesting  account  of  Paris,  see  Lister,  "An  Account 
of  Paris  at  the  Close  of  the  Seventeenth  Century. ' ' 

274 


PUBLIC  WORKS  ADMINISTRATION 


As  Dr.  Shaw  has  pointed  out,  in  his  "Municipal 
Government  in  Continental  Europe,"  Paris  was  the 
first  city  to  wake  from  the  lethargy  into  which  city 
government  had  fallen  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  Paris  undertook  to  transform  itself 
into  what  we  now  regard  as  the  modern  city,  and,  in 
a  way,  has  become  the  model  which  most  of  the  pro- 
gressive cities  have  had  before  their  eyes  in  the  in- 
auguration of  those  improvements  characteristic  of 
the  municipal  life  of  the  present  day. 

Modern  Conditions.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  book 
even  to  outline  what  has  been  done  along  the  line  of 
public  works  by  the  cities  of  the  United  States.  That 
has  already  been  done  by  Dr.  Fairlie  and  Dr.  Zueblin 
in  the  books  to  which  reference  has  been  so  frequently 
made.  It  may,  however,  be  said  that  the  local  im- 
provements made  by  the  cities  of  the  United  States, 
as  well  as  by  those  of  other  states,  may  be  grouped 
under  the  following  heads :  provision  of  the  necessa- 
ries of  city  life,  transportation  and  communication, 
and  disposal  of  refuse.  The  performance  of  its  duties 
along  these  lines  by  the  modern  city  does  not,  in  most 
eases,  necessarily  result,  as  in  the  branches  of  munici- 
pal activity  already  considered,  in  direct  administra- 
tion by  city  officers.  In  most  of  these  eases  the  city 
can  attend  to  these  matters  through  the  medium  of 
contract  as  well  as  through  that  of  direct  administra- 
tion. Thus,  even  in  the  case  of  streets,  the  city  may 
secure  their  construction,  repair,  and  maintenance  by 
contracts  made  for  that  purpose  with  private  indi- 
viduals and  corporations.   In  the  case  of  provision  for 

275 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


water,  light,  sewers,  garbage  disposal,  and  transporta- 
tion generally,  the  city  may  vest  the  corporations  or 
individuals  with  whom  it  contracts  with  the  power, 
both  of  attending  to  the  construction  and  repair  work, 
and  of  collecting  from  the  persons  served  by  these 
enterprises,  the  expense  of  the  service.  Whether  the 
city  shall  adopt  the  method  of  direct  administration, 
or  shall  contract  with  others  for  the  performance  of 
these  services,  is  one  of  the  most  important  questions 
of  municipal  policy.  It  is,  however,  a  question  with 
regard  to  which  at  the  present  time  we  have  not  suf- 
ficient experience  to  justify  a  conclusion  worthy  of 
any  great  weight.  On  that  account,  and  also  because 
of  the  lack  of  space  at  our  command,  it  is  a  question 
which  no  attempt  will  now  be  made  to  answer. 

Organization  of  Public  Works  Authorities.  Questions 
more  important  from  the  point  of  view  of  city  govern- 
ment are,  "What  is  and  should  be  the  form  of  adminis- 
trative organization  adopted  for  the  discharge  of  these 
functions  where  the  city  government  has  determined 
to  take  them  into  its  direct  administration?  In  the 
ordinary  American  city  which  has  not  attained  the 
dimensions  of  a  large  city,  all  or  most  of  the  public 
works  attended  to  by  the  city  are  put  into  the  hands 
of  one  department  which  is  called  the  department  of 
public  works.  At  the  head  of  this  department  is 
placed  a  commissioner,  director,  or  a  board,  sometimes 
elected  by  the  people  of  the  city,  sometimes  appointed 
by  the  mayor  and  council,  and  sometimes  appointed 
either  by  the  mayor  alone,  or  by  the  council  alone. 
The  ordinary  method  of  appointment  is  by  the  mayor 

276 


PUBLIC  WORKS  ADMINISTRATION 


and  council.  The  head  of  the  department  of  public 
works  may  usually  be  removed  by  the  appointing 
body.  In  case  he  is  elected  by  the  people,  he  may  some- 
times be  removed  by  the  mayor.  Usually,  the  removal 
may  be  made  for  cause  only,  though  sometimes  the 
power  of  removal  is  arbitrary.  In  the  average  Amer- 
ican city  the  tenure  of  the  head  of  the  department  of 
public  works  is  such,  however,  that  it  is  largely  inde- 
pendent of  the  chief  executive  of  the  city.  To  offset 
this  independence  of  tenure,  his  term  is  usually  a  short 
one,  and  changes  in  incumbency  are  commonly  quite 
frequent. 

As  a  city  increases  in  size  the  tendency  is  toward  a 
disintegration  of  the  department  of  public  works  into 
separate  departments,  each  one  of  which  has  jurisdic- 
tion over  some  particular  kind  of  public  works.  Prob- 
ably the  most  remarkable  example  of  such  disintegra- 
tion afforded  by  any  recent  city  charter  in  the  United 
States  is  that  afforded  by  the  New  York  charter  of 
1897.  In  this  charter  provision  was  made  for  a  water 
department,  a  highway  department,  a  sewer  depart- 
ment, a  department  of  public  buildings,  lighting  and 
supplies,  a  department  of  bridges,  a  department  of 
street  cleaning,  a  department  of  parks,  and  a  depart- 
ment of  docks  and  ferries.  Such  a  disintegration  of 
the  department  of  public  works  is  apt,  unless  care  is 
taken,  to  be  productive  of  bad  results,  particularly 
under  a  system  of  city  government  which,  like  the 
board  system,  permits  not  only  of  inter-departmental 
independence,  but  also  of  the  independence  of  the 
departments  over  against  the  chief  executive.  Under 
such  conditions  it  may  well  happen  that  after  the  de- 

277 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


partment  of  streets  has  had  a  street  paved,  the  sewer 
department  will  tear  the  pavement  up  in  order  to 
construct  a  sewer  beneath  the  surface  of  the  street. 
To  avoid  just  such  results,  some  of  even  the  larger 
cities  have  preferred  not  to  permit  any  disintegration 
of  the  department  of  public  works,  and  have  put  all 
the  public  works  of  the  city  under  the  administration 
of  one  head,  either  a  director  of  public  works  as  in 
Philadelphia,  or  a  board  as  in  most  of  the  cities  of 
the  state  of  Ohio.  Where  the  various  branches  of  pub- 
lic works  are  not  absolutely  united,  as  in  the  cases 
mentioned,  the  various  departmental  heads  are  some- 
times made  to  form  a  board  of  public  improvements, 
as  in  St.  Louis  and  in  New  York,  under  the  charter  of 
1897.  This  plan  of  organization,  however,  has  the  dis- 
advantage of  making  the  procedure  for  the  inaugura- 
tion of  public  improvements  extremely  complicated. 
It  was  largely  for  this  reason  that  it  was  abandoned 
in  the  New  York  charter  of  1901. 

Another  method  of  solving  this  problem,  of  which, 
however,  we  have  very  few  examples  in  American 
cities,  has  consisted  not  in  the  disintegration  of  the 
department  but  in  its  decentralization.  The  degree 
to  which  the  department  may  be  decentralized,  is  de- 
pendent on  the  topographical  character  of  the  muni- 
cipal district.  Thus,  in  the  present  city  of  New  York, 
which  consists  of  at  least  four,  and  perhaps  five,  sepa- 
rate districts  differentiated  by  their  situation,  most  of 
the  branches  of  public  works  have  been  decentralized. 
The  care  of  the  streets  and  sewers,  the  bridges  not 
connecting  the  various  boroughs,  most  of  the  public 
buildings,  and,  in  the  case  of  two  boroughs,  street 

278 


PUBLIC  WORKS  ADMINISTRATION 


cleaning  as  well,  has  been  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
president  of  the  borough,  who  thus  is  a  commissioner 
of  public  works  for  a  portion  of  the  city.  It  is  prob- 
able that  this  plan  could  profitably  be  given  a  greater 
extension  by  American  cities  than  it  has  as  yet  re- 
ceived. Even  in  the  old  city  of  New  York,  prior  to 
the  formation  of  the  present  city,  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  adopt  a  similar  plan  for  the  public  works  of 
that  part  of  the  city  situated  north  of  the  Harlem 
River,  then  known  as  the  "annexed  district,"  now 
known  as  the  Borough  of  the  Bronx.  The  plan  which 
was  then  adopted  worked  very  successfully  there  dur- 
ing the  eight  years  of  its  existence,  and  it  was  because 
of  the  success  which  then  attended  it  that  the  plan 
was  extended  to  all  the  five  boroughs  of  the  present 
city.  All  the  testimony  is  to  the  effect  that  this  plan 
has  been  as  satisfactory  in  these  boroughs  as  it  was  in 
the  annexed  district  of  the  old  city  of  New  York. 

Necessity  of  Records.  But  whatever  may  be  the 
method  of  organizing  the  department  of  public  works, 
one  thing  is  extremely  necessary  if  the  work  of  the  de- 
partment is  to  be  economical  and  efficient:  provision 
should  be  made  for  keeping  an  accurate  and  detailed 
record,  after  an  approved  form,  of  the  operations  of 
the  department.  Thus,  for  example,  no  city  which  at- 
tempts to  supply  itself  with  water,  gas,  or  electricity 
should  enter  upon  the  undertaking  before  opening  ac- 
counts which  will  show  what  its  plant  costs;  what  are 
the  expenses  of  operation,— including  the  tax  which 
the  city  would  receive  from  a  private  corporation  were 
the  service  rendered  by  such  corporation,— and  what 

279 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


is  the  net  profit  or  loss,  if  any,  to  the  city  from  the  un- 
dertaking. Similar  records  should  be  kept  of  street 
pavements,  which  should  indicate  in  a  rough  way,  at 
any  rate,  the  character  of  the  traffic  on  the  street,  the 
kind  of  pavement,  its  cost,  the  date  when  it  was  laid, 
and  the  cost  of  its  maintenance  and  repair.  Only  when 
a  city  government  has  access  to  such  information  can 
it  determine  the  wisdom  of  continuing  the  operation 
of  a  service,  like  the  supply  of  water,  or  the  economy, 
in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  of  the  various  kinds  of 
pavement  under  the  conditions  of  use  to  which  they 
are  subjected.  Only  by  the  comparison  of  the  results 
which  it  has  obtained  with  the  results  obtained  by 
other  cities  keeping  similar  records,  can  a  city  deter- 
mine whether  its  own  methods  may  be  improved  or 
not.  Only  where  a  knowledge  of  these  facts  is  readily 
obtainable  are  the  voters  of  a  city  in  a  position  to  de- 
termine intelligently  whether  the  city  government  has 
been  competent  and  efficient  in  the  management  of 
city  affairs.^ 

It  is  in  regard  to  these  branches  of  its  municipal 
activity  that  a  city  acts  in  a  capacity  resembling  very 
closely  that  of  a  private  corporation.  The  courts  very 
generally  hold  the  city  to  about  the  same  liability 
for  the  management  of  these  branches  of  admin- 
istration as  that  which  is  imposed  upon  private  corpo- 
rations similarly  engaged.  If  the  management  of  pub- 
lic works  is  of  this  business  character  which  has  been 
attributed  to  it,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  would  be 
proper  to  apply  to  it  the  same  principles  which  would 

*  On  the  important  point  of  city  records,  see  Whinery, 
"Municipal  Public  Works." 

280 


PUBLIC  WORKS  ADMINISTRATION 


have  been  applicable  were  the  matter  attended  to  by 
a  private  corporation.  Now  no  private  corporate  man- 
agement would,  in  these  days,  be  long  tolerated  which 
did  not  keep  records  of  the  kind  described.  Certainly, 
were  the  business  engaged  in  a  competitive  one,  no 
corporation  which  did  not  have  such  a  knowledge  of 
its  operations  would  long  remain  in  successful  opera- 
tion. 

It  would  be  well  if  the  people  kept  in  mind,  when 
called  upon  to  act  politically,  this  quasi-private  char- 
acter of  the  city  in  its  management  of  public  works. 
If  they  did  so,  they  would  insist  upon  a  greater  degree 
of  actual  permanence  of  incumbency  in  the  offices  in 
the  department  of  public  works  than  is  now  demanded 
for  most  city  offices. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  undertakings  under  di- 
rect municipal  management  is  largely  true  also  of 
those  undertakings  which,  though  under  private  man- 
agement, still  are  dependent  on  municipal  action  for 
their  successful  operation.  Publicity  of  operation  is 
necessary  if  we  would  know  whether  the  city  is  re- 
ceiving a  fair  return  either  in  cash  payments  or  in 
character  of  service  rendered  for  the  franchises  which 
it  has  granted  to  the  corporations  rendering  the 
service. 

American  Conditions.  Notwithstanding  the  desirahil- 
ity,  if  not  necessity,  of  the  keeping  by  the  city  of  the 
records  relative  to  the  operations  of  its  public  works 
—using  the  word  in  its  broad  sense — it  is  very  seldom 
that  we  find  American  cities  making  any  pretense  of 
keeping  such  records.   Some  years  ago  the  question  of 

281 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


the  continuance  of  the  municipal  ownership  and  op- 
eration of  its  waterworks  became  a  moot  one  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  It  was  claimed  by  the  advocates  of 
municipal  ownership  that  the  city  waterworks  had 
been  a  source  of  great  profit  to  the  city,  and  by  the 
advocates  of  private  ownership  that  the  city  would 
save  money  by  putting  the  matter  into  the  hands  of 
a  private  corporation  which  stood  ready  to  undertake 
the  duty.  The  attempt  was  made  by  a  committee  of 
private  citizens,  aided  by  the  city  comptroller,  to  get 
at  the  facts,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  go  through 
the  accounts  of  the  city  from  the  time  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Croton  waterworks  in  order  to  deter- 
mine :  first,  what  the  works  had  cost ;  second,  what 
were  the  receipts;  and  third,  what  expenses  should 
be  charged  to  the  service,  and  thus  whether  the  works 
were  profitable  or  not.  The  city  did  not  have  any 
accounts  which  showed  at  a  glance  what  the  financial 
status  of  its  waterworks  was.^ 

The  practical  lack  of  all  records  as  to  the  operations 
of  cities  not  merely  in  the  field  of  public  works,  but 
as  well  in  the  general  field  of  city  government,  makes 
it  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  determine  whether  a 
particular  form  of  municipal  government  is  better 
than  some  other  form  under  similar  conditions; 
whether  one  city  is  doing  properly,  as  compared  with 
other  cities,  some  particular  piece  of  work.  The  devel- 
opment of  any  science  of  municipal  administration  is 
rendered  practically  impossible  because  of  the  ab- 
sence of  all  reliable  data.    Of  course  the  great  diffi- 

'See  "Eeport  on  the  Water-supply  of  the  City  of  New 
York, ' '  by  the  Merchants '  Association  of  New  York. 

282 


PUBLIC  WORKS  ADMINISTRATION 


culty  which  the  student  of  city  government  in  the 
United  States  encounters  is  not  an  argument  against 
the  present  conditions  which  has  any  great  force,  for 
cities  are  not  established  in  order  to  be  objects  of 
study.  At  the  same  time  present  conditions  hamper 
not  merely  the  student  but  the  practical  administrator 
and  politician  as  well.  For  nobody  can  find,  except 
with  the  greatest  difficulty,  what  are  the  facts  of  city 
government  in  the  United  States  upon  which  the  in- 
telligent determination  of  questions  of  municipal  pol- 
icy must  be  based. 

A  great  contrast  with  the  conditions  existing  in 
this  country  is  offered  by  those  of  Great  Britain. 
There  all  the  cities,  as  urban  county  districts,  are 
obliged  by  the  law  to  make  full  returns  to  the  Local 
Government  Board  at  London  along  the  lines  which 
have  been  set  forth.  These  returns  are  all  published 
annually,  under  the  name  of  "Local  Taxation  Re- 
turns." From  them  any  one  may  gather  at  a  glance 
what  has  been  the  pecuniary  success  of  any  city  in 
undertaking  any  line  of  work.  A  science  of  municipal 
administration  is  there  possible  because  the  facts  on 
which  it  has  to  be  based  are  at  hand  and  readily  ac- 
cessible. 

Importance  of  Public  Works  in  Cities.  At  first  blush 
the  importance  of  the  field  of  municipal  activity  to 
which  the  name  of  public-works  administration  has 
been  given,  is  not  apparent.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how- 
ever, public  works  have  become  one  of  the  most  ex- 
pensive items  in  city  government.  The  Bulletin  of 
the  United  States  Department  of  Labor.  i.ssued  in 
September,  1901,  shows  that  the  135  cities  of  30,000 

283 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


inhabitaats  and  over  in  the  United  States  spent,  in 
round  numbers,  in  the  year  1900,  the  sum  of  $263,000,- 
000  for  the  construction  and  repair  of  their  public 
works,  an  average  per  capita  of  their  population  of 
nearly  $14.  This  sum  does  not  include  the  payments 
made  by  private  corporations  engaged  in  discharging 
public  services.  The  same  report  shows  that  the  same 
cities  had  invested  in  pavements  alone  nearly  $433,- 
000,000. 

Municipal  public  works  are  important,  further, 
not  merely  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  municipal 
finances,  but  also  from  that  of  the  effect  which  they 
have  on  the  health  and  general  well-being  of  the  city 
population.  The  report  to  which  reference  has  been 
made  shows  that  in  the  135  cities  of  30,000  inhabi- 
tants and  over  there  were  in  the  year  1900,  6546 
deaths  from  typhoid  fever,  or  34  deaths  per  100,000 
population.  It  is  said  that  there  are  usually  five  eases 
of  this  disease  to  one  death ;  the  cases  of  typhoid  fever 
in  these  cities  must,  therefore,  have  amounted  to 
nearly  40,000.  Now  experience  has  shown  that  pure 
city  water  will  reduce  the  number  of  deaths  from 
typhoid  to  five  per  hundred  thousand.  This  reduction 
would  mean  a  saving  of  5600  lives  annually.  Similar 
results  would  be  reached  in  the  case  of  other  diseases 
having  a  close  connection  with  the  water-supply.  Such 
a  saving  would  be  accompanied  by  great  economic 
saving,  for  each  life  thus  cut  off  represents  really 
what  is  equivalent  to  invested  capital.^ 

What  has  been  said  with  regard  to  a  pure  water 
supply  may  almost  be  repeated  with  regard  to  sewers 
'  See  Whinery,  ' '  Municipal  Public  Works, "  p.  3  seq. 

284 


PUBLIC  WORKS  ADMINISTRATION 


and  streets.  Poorly  constructed  sewers  have  natu- 
rally a  deleterious  effect  on  the  health  of  the  com- 
munity. Badly  paved  streets  have  just  as  necessarily, 
though  not  so  obviously,  a  bad  effect.  For  badly 
paved  streets  are  cleaned  with  difficulty,  and  badly 
cleaned  streets,  like  dirty  sewers,  are  breeding  places 
for  the  germs  which  are  the  cause  of  much  disease. 

The  attention  of  the  voter  and  the  public  generally, 
is  too  apt  to  be  riveted  on  the  more  spectacular  side  of 
city  government.  It  is  too  often  felt  that  while  poli- 
ties should  be  kept  out  of  the  school  administration, 
police  administration,  fire  and  health  departments,  it 
is  not  so  necessary  that  the  same  principle  should  be 
applied  to  those  departments  having  to  do  with  public 
works.  But  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  while  a  cor- 
rupt school  administration  endangers  the  intelligence 
of  coming  generations,  and  while  a  corrupt  police  is 
followed  by  an  increased  moral  depravity,  badly  con- 
ducted public  works  are  at  once  accompanied  by  phy- 
sical degeneration.  Care,  therefore,  should  be  taken 
to  organize  all  administrative  branches  having  to 
do  with  public  works  in  the  best  possible  manner,  and 
to  cultivate  a  public  opinion  w^hich  shall  insist  upon 
securing  from  those  departments  the  most  intelligent 
and  upright  performance  of  their  duty. 


285 


CHAPTER  XIII 


FmANCIAL  ADMDSriSTEATION  ^ 

City  Receipts.  City  financial  administration  may  per- 
haps be  best  treated  under  the  three  heads  of  Receipts, 
Expenditures,  and  Audit.  The  receipts  of  cities,  for  a 
considerable  period  in  their  history  since  the  time  cit- 
ies were  reduced  to  the  position  of  subordinate  mem- 
bers of  a  greater  state,  consisted  almost  exclusively  of 
private  corporate  rather  than  public  governmental  re- 
ceipts. The  history  of  most  cities  in  Europe  had 
brought  it  about  that  they  became  owners  of  consider- 
able amounts  of  revenue-bearing  property,  or  of  lu- 
crative rights.  From  the  receipts  from  this  property, 
and  from  loans,  the  expenses  of  the  city  government 
were  for  the  most  part  defrayed.  Cities  were  not  be- 
fore the  nineteenth  century  regarded  as  sufficiently 
governmental  in  character  to  be  intrusted  with  the 
right  of  local  taxation.  It  was  the  rule  of  the  English 
law,  for  example,  that  the  mere  incorporation  of  a 
borough  did  not  confer  upon  it  any  power  of  taxation. 
The  extension  of  the  sphere  of  municipal  activity 

'  Authorities :  Clow,  ' '  City  Finances  in  the  United  States, ' ' 
in  Publications  of  the  American  Economic  Association,  Third 
Series,  Vol.  II,  No.  4. 

286 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 


which  was  characteristic  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
made  it,  however,  impossible  for  cities  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  their  administration  out  of  the  income  of 
their  property,  and  recourse  was  had  to  the  taxing 
power  which  was  very  commonly  conferred  upon  them 
by  the  legislature  of  the  state  in  which  they  were 
situated. 

It  is  very  questionable  whether  such  a  reversal  of 
the  policy  of  the  centuries  preceding  the  nineteenth 
century  was  either  a  necessary  or  a  wise  one.  For 
there  was,  as  it  turned  out,  in  the  streets  of  cities  a 
new  kind  of  property  whose  income,  if  recognized  as 
at  the  disposition  of  the  city,  would  have  been  suffi- 
cient, particularly  in  the  large  cities,  to  pay  a  large 
part,  if  not  all,  of  the  really  local  expenses  of  the 
city  government.  In  this  country,  however,  the  courts 
refused  to  recognize  the  cities  as  possessing  any  prop- 
erty rights  in  the  streets,  and  the  legislatures  of  the 
states  very  commonly  wasted  this  property  by  im- 
provident grants  of  it,  sometimes  in  perpetuity,  to 
private  persons  and  corporations.  These  grants  were 
in  many  instances  unaccompanied  by  conditions  by 
the  enforcement  of  which  cities  could  derive  either 
pecuniary  profit  for  themselves  as  corporations,  or  in- 
direct advantage  for  their  inhabitants  through  im- 
provement in  services.  Prior  to  the  commencement 
of  the  nineteenth  century  the  municipal  authorities 
had  themselves  wasted  the  city  patrimony  throughout 
England  and  Europe  generally.  During  that  century 
what  might  have  been  a  new  city  patrimony  of  im- 
mense value  was  wasted  by  the  legislatures  of  many 
of  the  states  of  the  United  States. 

287 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


Within  recent  years,  however,  a  more  intelligent 
view  has  come  to  be  taken  of  the  rights  of  the  cities, 
and  at  the  present  time  an  earnest  attempt  is  being 
made  throughout  the  United  States  to  secure  for  the 
city  a  portion,  at  any  rate,  of  the  profit  which  is  de- 
rivable from  street  and  other  municipal  franchises. 

One  reason  for  the  adoption  of  the  mistaken  policy 
relative  to  street  franchises  which  was  adopted,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  belief  which  has  so  generally  been 
held  in  this  country  as  to  the  functions  of  government. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  original  ideas  held  on 
this  subject,  the  experience  of  most  of  our  states, 
which  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  en- 
tered into  commercial  undertakings,  such  as  state 
banks,  canals,  and  railways,  was  so  unfortunate  from 
the  pecuniary  point  of  view  that  it  became  the  fixed 
belief  of  the  great  majority  of  the  people  that  politi- 
cal corporations  were  inherently  unfit  to  conduct  en- 
terprises whose  purpose  was  pecuniary  profit.  This 
belief  had  two  effects  on  city  finances :  one  was  that 
the  city  government  should  undertake  only  those 
functions  whose  discharge  would  not  be  undertaken 
by  private  companies,  i.e.,  the  unprofitable  functions ; 
the  second  was  that  if  by  any  chance  the  city  should 
have  entered  upon  an  undertaking  which  could  be 
made  profitable,  the  charges  for  service  should  be  re- 
duced so  as  to  cover  certainly  no  more  than  the  cost  of 
the  service.  The  advantage  to  be  derived  from  any 
city  undertaking  was  to  be  found  not  in  the  pecuniary 
profit  from  the  undertaking,  but  the  higher  welfare 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city. 

As  a  result  of  these  conditions  the  receipts  derived 
288 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 


by  American  cities  from  commercial  undertakings  and 
property  generally,  form  a  very  small  portion  of 
their  total  receipts.  It  is  from  the  public  govern- 
mental receipts,  such  as  taxes,  special  assessments  for 
local  improvements,  and  loans  to  be  eventually  paid 
off  from  the  receipts  of  taxation,  that  by  far  the  ma- 
jor part  of  the  revenue  of  the  American  city  comes. 
The  general  principles  with  regard  to  the  taxing  pow- 
ers of  cities  have  been  set  forth  in  what  has  been  said 
with  regard  to  the  powers  of  the  city  council. 

The  organization  provided  by  the  average  American 
city  for  the  collection  of  its  receipts  has  to  do,  for  the 
reasons  stated,  almost  exclusively  with  matters  of 
taxation,  including  within  that  term  special  assess- 
ments. It  is,  of  course,  true  that  where  a  city  has 
revenue  from  property  this  is  collected  not  by  the  tax 
officers,  but  rather  by  special  boards  or  authorities  hav- 
ing charge  of  particular  classes  of  property,  such  as  a 
waterworks  board  or  other  commission.  In  some  cases 
the  revenue  of  city  property,  such  as  markets,  is  at- 
tended to  by  the  chief  financial  officer  of  the  city.  In 
a  few  cities,  where  the  revenue  of  city  property  has 
been  pledged  to  the  payment  of  city  debts,  the  care  of 
city  property  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  debt  or  sink- 
ing-fund commission.  This  is  the  case  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  But  apart  from  these  comparatively  un- 
important matters,  the  collection  of  city  revenue  is 
in  the  hands  of  the  taxing  officers  of  the  city. 

City  Tax  Authorities.     The  taxing  officers  of  cities  are 
of  two  kinds :  those  having  to  do  with  the  levy  of  the 
tax,  and  those  having  to  do  with  the  collection  of  the 
18  289 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


tax.  The  officers  having  to  do  with  the  levy  of  the  tax 
differ  very  greatly,  and  differ,  of  course,  because 
of  the  difference  in  the  taxes  levied.  In  all  cases,  how- 
ever, there  is  some  authority  which  ultimately  deter- 
mines the  rate  of  taxation.  If  the  tax  which  is  levied 
is  a  specific  tax,  that  is,  if  the  tax  is  a  tax  of  so  many 
dollars  on  a  certain  occupation,  no  operations  upon 
the  part  of  the  city  officers,  outside  of  the  fixing  of 
the  rate  and  the  collection  of  that  rate  from  the  per- 
sons liable  to  taxation,  are  necessary.  Where  these 
specific  taxes  on  occupations  are  the  only  taxes  levied, 
the  city  tax  administration  is  a  comparatively  simple 
one.  If  the  rate  of  taxation  is  a  matter  of  local  deter- 
mination, it  is  usually  fixed  by  the  city  coimcil  subject 
to  the  usual  veto  power  of  the  mayor.  The  only  other 
administrative  officer  required  for  the  collection  of 
the  tax  is  a  tax  collector,  who,  at  the  time  he  makes 
the  collection,  incidentally  determines  that  the  person 
from  whom  he  collects  the  tax  belongs  to  a  taxable 
class.  Inasmuch  as  the  occupation  tax  is  the  main  tax 
in  the  southern  portion  of  the  United  States,  the  tax 
administration  is  a  comparatively  simple  one  in  the 
cities  of  the  South.  The  office  of  tax  collector  is  filled, 
like  all  city  offices,  in  various  ways,  sometimes  by  elec- 
tion, sometimes  by  appointment  by  the  council  or  by 
'  the  mayor,  sometimes  by  appointment  of  the  mayor 
and  council.  His  tenure  and  term  do  not  differ  essen- 
tially from  those  of  other  city  officers. 

City  Assessors.  Where,  however,  the  taxes  collected 
are  ad-valorem  taxes,  that  is,  where  the  amount  of  the 
tax  varies  with  the  amount  of  property  or  business 

290 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 


upon  which  it  is  imposed,  the  tax  administration  is 
more  elaborate.  Inasmuch  as  the  general  or  real 
property  tax  and  assessments  for  local  improvements 
are,  on  the  whole,  the  most  important  sources  of  city 
revenue,  what  will  be  said  upon  this  general  subject 
will  be  confined  to  the  administration  required  for  the 
collection  of  the  general  property  tax  and  these  local 
assessments.  The  attempt  was  originally  made  to  ap- 
ply to  cities  the  same  methods  which  had  been  elabo- 
rated for  the  assessment  of  the  state  tax  on  property 
in  rural  districts.  One  of  the  principles  upon  which 
the  assessment  of  these  taxes  was  based,  was  that  the 
assessment  should  be  made  by  assessors  elected  by  the 
people  subject  to  be  assessed.  In  the  case  of  large 
cities  it  was  felt  that  an  assessment  made  by  assessors 
chosen  for  the  city  at  large  would  be  made  by  officers 
too  far  removed  from  the  control  of  the  persons  as- 
sessed. On  that  account  it  was  quite  commonly  the 
case  for  the  city  to  be  divided  into  wards  in  which  the 
voters  were  to  elect  the  assessors  who  were  to  assess 
the  property  in  that  ward.  The  assessors  elected  in 
this  way  did  not  receive  large  salaries,  did  not  devote 
themselves  exclusively  to  the  work  of  assessment,  and 
usually  served  for  short  terms.  The  process  of  assess- 
ment was,  so  far  as  concerned  the  assessment  district, 
really  a  sort  of  self -assessment. 

The  natural  result  of  an  assessment  by  different 
boards  of  assessors  was  a  varying  ratio  of  assessment 
in  the  different  assessment  districts.  Thus,  the  as- 
sessors of  district  A  might  assess  property  at  fifty 
per  cent.,  those  of  district  B,  at  seventy-five  per  cent., 
of  its  real  value.    Inasmuch  as  the  rate  of  taxation  as 

291 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


fixed  by  the  competent  city  authority  would  be  the 
same  for  the  whole  city,  a  tax-payer  in  district  B 
would  pay  to  the  city  for  similar  property  a  tax  fifty 
per  cent,  greater  than  that  paid  by  a  tax-payer  in 
district  A.  There  would,  therefore,  naturally  be  a 
competition  between  the  assessors  of  different  districts 
which  would  gradually  lower  the  ratio  of  assessment 
everywhere  throughout  the  city  and  would  ultimately 
seriously  impair  the  city's  financial  resources. 

The  experience  of  the  city  of  Chicago  here  is  very 
valuable.  Owing  to  the  competition  between  the  as- 
sessors of  the  towns  of  which  the  city  is  composed,  the 
ratio  of  assessment  fell  so  low  that  it  was  necessary 
for  the  legislature  to  interfere,  and  by  law  fix  the 
ratio  of  value  for  purposes  of  assessment  at  a  given 
proportion  of  actual  valuation.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  ratio  as  fixed  by  the  legislature  was  only  twenty 
per  cent,  of  the  real  value.  Inasmuch  as  this  was  gen- 
erally regarded  as  an  increase  in  the  valuation  of  as- 
sessors, the  valuation  made  by  them  before  the  pas- 
sage of  the  law  must  have  been  ludicrously  low. 

The  city  of  New  York  long  ago  went  through  some- 
what the  same  experience,  but  applied  a  different  and 
much  more  effective  remedy.  About  1860,  a  law  was 
passed  by  the  state  legislature  doing  away  with  the 
ward  assessors  and  providing  for  a  board  having  juris- 
diction over  the  entire  city.  The  members  of  this 
board  were  no  longer  elected  by  the  people  but  were 
to  be  appointed  by  the  city  authorities.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  they  are  appointed  and  may  be  removed  by 
the  mayor  whenever  he  sees  fit  to  exercise  this  power. 
They  receive  quite  a  large  salary,  practically  devote 

292 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 


themselves  exclusively  to  the  work  of  assessment,  and 
are,  in  a  word,  really  professional  assessors,  who,  dif- 
ferent from  popular  assessors,  look  at  their  work,  not 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  tax-payer,  but  from  that 
of  the  city,  and,  as  a  consequence,  are  inclined  to  as- 
sess property  at  something  like  its  actual  value. 

An  assessment  of  property  at  an  approximation  of 
its  actual  value  is  important  not  merely  because  the 
current  revenues  of  the  city  are  thereby  greatly  in- 
creased, but  also  because  where  a  city's  debt-incurring 
capacity  is  limited  to  a  certain  proportion  of  its  as- 
sessment valuation,  a  low  assessment  valuation  lessens 
its  power  to  enter  upon  undertakings  which  may  be 
necessary  to  the  development  of  the  city.  Thus,  in 
Chicago,  where  the  debt  limit  was  reached  in  1870, 
"during  more  than  thirty  years  of  expansion,  both 
in  population  and  area,  the  city  has  been  without 
means  of  undertaking  upon  any  adequate  scale,  such 
public  works  as  are  fitting  for  a  municipality  of  its 
size.  The  burden  of  any  improvements  made  have 
been  imposed  upon  the  present  generation  either  by 
way  of  special  assessments  or  general  taxation.  In 
consequence,  the  city  has  financially  lived  from  hand 
to  mouth. ' '  1 

The  city  assessors  or  equivalent  officers  are,  like  the 
other  administrative  officers  of  the  city,  sometimes 
elected  by  the  people,  sometimes  appointed  by  the 
council,  sometimes  by  the  mayor,  and  sometimes  by 
the  mayor  and  council.   In  addition  to  the  officers  who 

'  Scott,  ' '  The  Municipal  Situation  in  Chicago,  "  in  "  Detroit 
Conference  for  Good  City  Government  of  the  National  Munici- 
pal League,  1903, ' '  p.  157. 

293 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


make  the  assessment,  there  is,  in  some  cases,  a  board 
of  revision  or  tax-appeal  court,  to  which  appeals  from 
the  original  assessment  may  be  taken.  In  other  cases, 
the  appeal  goes  to  the  ordinary  judicial  courts,  or  ap- 
plication may  be  made  to  the  assessors  to  revise  their 
first  assessment. 

Local  Assessments.  As  a  general  thing,  the  determina- 
tion of  the  amount  of  the  local  assessment  which  a 
given  individual  must  pay  on  property  benefited  by 
some  local  improvement,  is  made  by  authorities  other 
than  the  regular  assessors  of  taxes.  Often  these  au- 
thorities are  appointed  by  the  courts,  and  resemble  a 
jury  in  that  they  are  appointed  for  the  determination 
of  a  single  case.  This  is  particularly  true  where  the 
determination  of  the  amount  of  the  assessment  is  made 
as  a  result  of  an  attempt  to  ascertain  the  actual  bene- 
fit the  property  assessed  has  derived  from  the  im- 
provement for  which  the  assessment  was  laid.  In 
such  cases  provision  is  sometimes  made  for  an  appeal 
to  an  authority  similar  to  the  board  of  revision  or  tax- 
appeal  court,  provided  for  in  the  case  of  ad-valorem 
taxes.  In  other  cases  some  city  officer  or  board  deter- 
mines the  amount  of  the  assessment  as  an  incident  to 
the  determination  of  the  liability  of  the  property  to 
the  assessment.  Such  is  apt  to  be  the  method  where 
the  determination  of  the  amount  of  the  assessment  is 
made  by  the  application  of  some  arbitrary  rule  whose 
adoption  it  is  believed  will  secure,  at  any  rate,  some 
rough  sort  of  justice.  Thus  it  is  often  provided  that 
the  abutting  property  on  a  street  improvement  shall 
pay  for  such  improvement  in  proportion  to  its  foot 

294 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 


frontage  or  its  superficial  area.  In  these  cases  the 
determination  of  the  amount  of  the  assessment  is  the 
result  merely  of  an  arithmetical  process.  In  these 
cases  there  is  seldom  provided  a  method  of  appeal  as 
in  the  ease  of  ad-valorem  assessments.  Either  of  these 
methods  of  assessing  property  for  local  improvements 
is  regarded  as  constitutionally  proper.^ 

City  Expenditures.  The  authorities  having  to  do  with 
the  expenditure  of  city  moneys  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes:  the  first  embraces  those  authorities  which 
fix  the  amounts  of  money  to  be  spent.  There  are  two 
general  systems  adopted  by  the  various  cities  of  the 
United  States  for  organizing  the  authorities  intrusted 
with  the  determining  of  the  city  appropriations.  The 
first  system  vests  almost  all  the  powers  relative  to 
fixing  the  amount  of  money  to  be  spent,  so  far  as  that 
is  a  matter  of  local  determination,  in  the  city  council ; 
the  second  provides  a  board  of  administrative  officers 
which  has  at  least  coordinate  powers  with  the  city 
council.  The  first  system  is  the  one  more  generally 
adopted;  the  latter  system  has  been  established  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  in  a  number  of  the  large  cities  of 
the  state  of  New  York,  all  the  cities  of  the  state  of  New 
Jersey,  and  in  a  number  of  cities  scattered  all  over  the 
country.  In  some  of  the  cities  adopting  this  second 
system,  the  board  of  finance  or  estimate,  as  it  is  often 
called,  has  larger  powers  than  the  council,  relative 
to  the  amounts  of  money  which  may  be  spent.  Thus 
a  greater  than  ordinary  majority  vote  of  the  council  is 

'  See  Whinery,  ' '  Municipal  Public  Works, ' '  p.  156,  for  a 
discussion  of  these  methods. 

295 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


necessary  to  amend  the  estimates  made  by  the  board  of 
estimate,  or  the  council  is  permitted  merely  to  reduce 
but  not  to  increase  the  estimates  made  by  that  body. 
Where  a  board  of  estimate  is  provided,  it  usually  con- 
sists of  the  mayor,  the  chief  financial  officer  of  the 
city,  the  president  of  the  council  where  there  is  one, 
the  corporation  counsel,  and  other  officers  who  are 
generally  not  connected  with  departments  spending 
large  sums  of  money.  In  the  city  of  New  York  it  con- 
sists, in  addition  to  the  mayor,  comptroller,  and  presi- 
dent of  the  board  of  aldermen,  of  the  presidents  of  the 
five  boroughs  of  which  the  city  is  composed.  These 
last  officers  are  really  at  the  head  of  the  borough  de- 
partments of  public  works  (streets  and  sewers),  and 
naturally,  therefore,  spend  a  great  deal  of  money. 
The  members  of  this  board  representing  the  city  at 
large,  have  each  three  votes.  The  presidents  of  the 
boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  Brookljni  have  each  two 
votes.  The  presidents  of  the  boroughs  of  The  Bronx, 
Queens,  and  Richmond-,  the  smaller  boroughs  from  the 
point  of  view  of  population,  have  each  one  vote.  The 
control  of  the  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment, 
as  it  is  called  in  New  York,  is  thus  in  the  hands  of 
the  non-spending  departments. 

Where  there  are  no  boards  of  estimate,  the  estimates 
of  each  department  are  usually  delivered  to  the  head 
of  the  finance  department,  who  ordinarily  revises  them 
before  they  are  submitted  to  the  council.  The  coun- 
cil usually  considers  these  estimates  in  committee, 
and  is  often  authorized  to  make  such  changes  in 
the  estimates  as  it  sees  fit.  The  following  description 
of  the  action  of  the  Chicago  city  council  will  give  a 

296 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 


good  idea  of  the  work  of  the  city  council  in  the 
United  States,  where  it  possesses  large  budgetary 
power:  "In  1893,  the  city  council  of  Chicago  passed 
the  appropriation  ordinance  on  March  27.  After  a 
large  amount  of  other  business  had  been  disposed  of, 
covering  thirty  pages  in  the  printed  proceedings,  the 
council  took  up  the  special  order  for  the  evening :  the 
consideration  for  the  first  time  of  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  finance  on  the  appropriations  of  1893. 
Twenty-one  proposed  changes  were  defeated,  four 
items  were  reduced,  three  were  increased,  one  item  was 
divided  into  four.  Before  that  session  adjourned  the 
budget,  carrying  $11,810,969  in  all,  over  five  hundred 
items,  had  been  enacted."  ^  The  budget  of  the  larger 
cities  descends  into  great  detail,  that  of  New  York 
city  having  often  more  than  two  thousand  items. 
Finally,  the  mayor  may  generally  veto  the  budget  as 
an  entirety  or  the  special  items  therein,  his  veto  being 
ordinarily  overcome  by  a  two-thirds  or  three-fourths 
vote  of  the  council. 

City  Budget.  Ordinarily  the  budget  does  not  include 
the  expenditures  for  extraordinary  purposes  defrayed 
from  the  proceeds  of  loans  or  special  assessments.^ 
The  same  authorities  which  make  up  the  budget  of 
current  expenses  defrayed  from  the  revenue  of  city 
property  and  taxes  usually  have  charge  also  of  the 
extraordinary  expenditures.    There  is  not,  however, 

'  Clow,  ' '  City  Finances  in  the  United  States, "  p.  44  in  Pub- 
lications of  the  American  Economic  Association,  New  York, 
1901. 

-  See  for  the  borrowing  powers  of  cities,  supra  p.  173, 

297 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


usually  any  attempt  made  to  estimate  beforehand 
what  extraordinary  expenditures  shall  be  made  each 
year,  but  each  matter  requiring  such  expenditure  is 
attended  to  as  it  arises.  In  the  city  of  New  York, 
however,  the  charter  specifically  provides  that  the 
board  of  estimate  and  apportionment  may,  without 
the  approval  of  the  city  council,  expend  each  year 
from  the  issue  of  bonds  certain  specified  amounts  for 
the  extension  of  the  school  system,  for  acquiring  new 
docks,  and  for  increasing  the  plant  of  its  waterworks. 

In  most  cases  provision  is  made  for  a  sinking  fund 
for  the  extinguishment  of  the  city  debt.  Where  this 
is  the  case  there  is  usually  a  sinking-fund  commission 
often  composed  of  city  officers  acting  ex  officio  who, 
in  addition  to  the  management  of  the  city  debt,  have 
charge  of  certain  city  property  whose  revenues  have 
been  pledged  to  the  payment  of  the  city  debt. 

Expenditures,  both  ordinary  and  extraordinary,  are 
not  in  the  average  American  city  altogether  a  matter 
of  local  determination.  This  is  particularly  true  of 
the  expenditures  relative  to  matters  which  are  re- 
garded as  of  state  interest.  Thus  the  city  is  often  com- 
pelled by  law  to  enter  into  undertakings  which  in  the 
opinion  of  the  legislature  are  of  advantage  to  it,  and 
the  salaries  of  its  officers  are  often  fixed  with  consid- 
erable detail,  particularly  the  salaries  of  teachers. 
Thus,  in  New  York  city,  the  minimum  salaries  of 
teachers  are  fixed  by  the  state  law  and  the  city  must 
devote  a  certain  proportion  of  the  tax  levy  to  the  pay- 
ment of  such  salaries.  These  compulsory  expenditures 
form,  sometimes,  such  a  large  proportion  of  the  total 
expenditures  of  the  city  that  the  function  of  the 

298 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 


budget-making  authorities  is  little  more  than  formal. 
Thus,  in  New  York  city,  in  the  year  1868,  out  of  a  total 
tax  levy  of  $17,780,590  only  $3,710,709  was  in  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  council.^ 

City  Disbursing  Officers.  The  second  class  of  authori- 
ties having  to  do  with  expenditures  are  those  which 
actually  disburse  the  money.  The  disbursing  of 
money  involves  the  discharge  of  two  distinct  func- 
tions. One  is  the  determination  of  the  correctness, 
from  both  the  legal  and  the  practical  point  of  view, 
of  the  claim  presented  for  payment ;  the  determina- 
tion, in  other  words,  of  the  two  questions :  Has  the  ex- 
penditure been  authorized  by  law  or  by  competent 
authority?  and,  Have  the  services  been  rendered  or  the 
goods  been  delivered  1  The  second  function  is  the  ac- 
tual payment  of  the  money  to  the  person  entitled 
thereto.  In  the  smaller  cities  these  two  functions  are 
quite  commonly  discharged  by  the  same  authority,  in 
the  larger  they  are  discharged  by  separate  authorities. 
Further,  in  a  number  of  cities,  of  which  New  York  is 
an  example,  the  function  of  determining  the  correct- 
ness of  claims  against  the  city  is  made  a  part  of  the 
duties  of  the  chief  financial  officer  of  the  city.  Where 
we  find  the  greatest  differentiation  in  the  functions  of 
municipal  financial  administration,  we  find  three  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  officers,  namely :  a  treasurer,  or  cham- 
berlain, who  receives,  cares  for,  and  disburses  city 
funds ;  a  comptroller,  who  is  the  chief  financial  officer 
of  the  city,  and  an  auditor,  who  examines  into  the  cor- 
rectness of  claims  against  the  city.  As  a  general 
'Durand,  "The  Finances  of  New  York  City,"  p.  87. 

299 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


thing,  the  treasurer  is  elected  by  the  people.  In  New- 
York  city,  however,  he  is  called  the  chamberlain,  and 
is  appointed  by  the  mayor.  In  other  cases  he  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  council.  The  comptroller,  where  that 
office  is  completely  distinguished  from  the  others,  is 
almost  invariably  elected  by  the  people  or  appointed 
by  the  council.  The  same  is  true  of  the  auditor.  It  is 
thus  generally  true  that  the  financial  administration 
of  most  American  cities  has  not  been  brought  under 
the  control  of  the  mayor,  even  in  those  cities  in  which 
the  mayor  has  large  powers  of  control  over  every  other 
branch  of  city  administration.  As  a  general  thing, 
financial  officers  are  irremovable,  or,  are  removable 
only  for  cause.  Their  term  of  office,  however,  is,  like 
that  of  most  other  city  officers,  a  short  one. 

Auditing  of  City  Accounts.  The  final  function  in  finan- 
cial administration  which  deserves  attention  is  that 
of  examining  or  auditing  the  accounts  of  officers  hav- 
ing charge  of  city  moneys  and  property.  It  may  be 
said  that  this  important  matter  has  been  almost  en- 
tirely neglected  in  the  American  municipal  system. 
It  is  true,  heads  of  departments,  and  particularly  the 
chief  financial  officers,  commonly  report  to  the  mayor 
or  council  on  the  operations  of  their  departments  or 
offices ;  but,  on  account  of  the  general  defectiveness  of 
the  system  of  accounts  as  adopted  in  most  American 
cities  the  reports,  which  are  often  also  published,  are 
unintelligible  both  to  the  mayor  and  the  council  and 
to  the  public  generally.  Beyond  this  matter  of  re- 
ports no  effective  provision  for  a  regular  periodic  ex- 
amination of  city  accounts  is  made.    Provision  is 

300 


FINANCIAL  ADMINISTRATION 


occasionally  made  for  a  special  examination  which  is 
undertaken  sometimes  at  the  request  of  the  city  by 
certified  private  accountants,  sometimes  by  ofificers 
provided  by  the  charter.  In  New  York  city,  however, 
there  are  two  commissioners  of  accounts  appointed 
by  the  mayor  who  make  periodic  and  also  special 
examinations  of  the  city  accounts. 

The  lack  of  any  proper  system  of  examining  city  ac- 
counts has  led,  within  recent  years,  to  the  agitation 
for  a  state  examination  of  such  accounts.  Such  a 
system  has  been  provided  in  one  or  two  states,  among 
them  being  Ohio.^  Just  at  present  the  agitation  has 
been  directed  as  well  toward  the  establishment  by  the 
state  of  uniformity  in  city  accounts.  The  demand  is 
made  not  only  that  the  accounts  of  cities  shall  be  ex- 
amined by  a  state  official,  but  that  all  the  cities  within 
the  state  shall  be  compelled  to  keep  their  accounts  in 
the  same  way,  the  way  to  be  determined  by  the  state 
officer  who  has  in  his  hands  the  examination  of  city 
accounts.  There  is  no  question  but  that  city  govern- 
ment in  the  United  States  would  be  greatly  benefited 
by  the  adoption  of  such  a  system.  What  was  said  with 
regard  to  city  reports  to  the  state  maj'  be  repeated 
here  and  given  additional  emphasis.  Only  after  we 
are  in  possession  of  such  information  is  it  possible  to 
hold  city  officers  to  any  responsibility.  For  only  then 
can  we  know  how  our  city  governments  are  being  con- 
ducted. 

*Orth,  op.  cit.,  p.  102. 


301 


CHAPTER  XIV 


CONCLUSIONS 

The  purpose  of  what  has  been  said  in  the  preceding 
chapters  is  to  describe  the  conditions  existing  at  the 
present  time  in  the  typical  city  of  the  United  States, 
and  to  give  a  sketch  of  their  historical  development.  In 
more  than  one  instance  the  attempt  has  been  made  to 
go  beyond  what  may  commonly  be  regarded  as  mu- 
nicipal government  and  to  enter  the  field  of  state  gov- 
ernment. In  one  or  two  instances,  even,  the  excursion 
which  has  been  made,  has  been  made  into  what  may  not 
be  regarded  as  government  at  all,  but  as  merely  party 
politics.  These  excursions  have  seemed  to  be  neces- 
sary because  of  the  belief  that  city  government  cannot 
be  understood  apart  from  state  government,  and  that 
the  real  governmental  system  cannot  be  understood 
as  a  result  of  the  study  of  legal  conditions  alone. 
With  the  general  governmental  and  political  system 
in  mind,  the  attempt  has  been  made  further  to  show 
that  at  least  one  of  the  important  causes  of  the 
evil  conditions  obtaining  in  the  cities  of  the  United 
States  is  to  be  found  in  the  position  which  the  city 
occupies  in  the  system  of  state  government,  and  to 
point  out  the  remedies  which,  if  adopted,  may  amelio- 
rate those  conditions. 

302 


CONCLUSIONS 


Thus  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  show  that  the 
city  under  both  the  legal  theory  and  the  political  prac- 
tice of  the  United  States  is  treated  merely  as  an 
agent  of  the  state  government,  always,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  constitutional  restriction,  subject  to  the  con- 
trol of  the  state  legislature ;  that  this  control,  as  exer- 
cised, has  resulted  in  depriving  the  city  of  the  right 
of  local  self-government  without  at  the  same  time  safe- 
guarding the  interests  of  the  state ;  that  the  means 
adopted  for  limiting  the  control  of  the  legislature  have 
not  been  on  the  whole  effective,  and  that  the  main 
cause  of  the  evil  conditions  in  the  city  governments 
of  the  United  States  is  the  opportunity  and  tempta- 
tion offered,  under  existing  conditions,  to  the  state  and 
national  political  parties  to  assume  control  of  the  city 
government. 

The  attempt  has  also  been  made  to  show  that  the 
remedy  for  the  evils  of  American  city  life  is  to  be 
found,  not  so  much  in  a  change  in  the  governmental 
organization  of  the  city  as  in  a  change  in  its  position 
in  both  the  legal  and  the  extra-legal  political  system. 
What  is  needed  is  a  recognition,  both  in  law  and  in 
political  practice,  that  whatever  else  the  city  may  be, 
it  is  also  an  organization  for  the  satisfaction  of  local 
needs,  and  in  such  capacity  should  act  largely  free 
from  state  control — both  the  control  exercised  by  the 
state  government,  and  the  control  exercised  by  the 
state  party.  To  secure  this  result  the  state  control 
should  be  so  organized  as  to  reduce  the  temptation  to 
the  state  legislature  to  exercise  that  power  of  control 
which  must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  regarded  as 
necessarily  belonging  to  it.   The  city  voter  should,  by 

303 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


legislation  and  otherwise,  be  afforded  the  opportunity 
to  decide  municipal  issues  as  far  as  possible  uninflu- 
enced by  considerations  of  state  and  national  politics. 

What  our  cities  need  then  are  large  powers  of  local 
government,  the  exercise  of  which,  where  necessary, 
shall  be  subjected  to  an  administrative  rather  than 
a  legislative  control ;  separate  elections  for  municipal 
offices ;  fewer  elective  officers ;  a  more  compact  and 
concentrated  organization,  and  greater  freedom  than 
at  present  is  usually  accorded  to  municipal  citizens  to 
nominate  candidates  for  municipal  offices.  If  changes 
in  these  directions  were  made,  it  would  certainly  be 
easier  for  the  urban  population  to  see  more  clearly 
than  they  now  see  what  city  government  means  to 
them  and  to  free  themselves  in  their  municipal  poli- 
tics from  the  domination  of  the  state  and  national 
parties. 

The  descriptions  recently  given  by  Mr.  Steffens  of 
the  government  of  some  of  the  largest  cities  in  the 
United  States  are  of  such  a  character,  however,  as  to 
make  us  have  grave  doubts  as  to  the  efficacy  of  any 
mere  change  in  the  legal  relations  and  position  of 
our  cities. 1  Philadelphia,  with  a  large  native-born 
and  home-owning  and  a  small  tenement-house  popu- 
lation, with  a  charter  which  is  largely  based  on  what 
are  considered  to  be  advanced  ideas  on  the  subject  of 
municipal  government,  is  said  to  be  both  corrupt  and 
contented ;  Minneapolis,  with  one  of  the  most  modern 
laws  on  direct  nomination,  starts  under  the  operation 
of  that  law  a  new  administration  which  has  been  ac- 
companied by  great  scandal ;  St.  Louis,  with  one  of 

»See  "The  Shame  of  the  Cities." 

304 


CONCLUSIONS 


the  much- vaunted  freeholders'  charters,  supposed  to 
secure  to  her  the  advantages  of  home-rule,  has  shocked 
the  United  States  by  the  shameless  corruption  of  her 
officials ;  New  York,  with  the  most  modern  charter 
possessed  by  any  large  city  in  the  United  States,  has 
recently  refused  to  continue  in  power  one  of  the  best 
administrations  it  ever  had.  It  is  true  that  none  of 
these  cities  which  have  recently  been  held  up  to  us 
as  conspicuous  municipal  failures,  has  attempted  to 
apply  at  the  same  time  all  the  remedies  that  have  been 
proposed.  But  the  conspicuousness  of  the  failure  in 
all  to  secure  permament  good  government  can  hardly 
fail  to  force  the  conclusion  that  there  is  something  the 
matter  with  city  government  in  the  United  States 
which  strikes  deeper  than  mere  governmental  machin- 
ery. We  can  hardly  avoid  believing  that  the  economic 
and  social  conditions  at  present  existing  in  the  urban 
communities  of  the  United  States  are  such  as  to  make 
good  popular  city  government  extremely  difficult,  if 
not  impossible,  of  attainment.  The  experiences  of  par- 
ticular cities  such  as  Philadelphia,  encourages  fur- 
ther the  belief  that  there  must  be  something  in  the 
moral  character  of  particular  populations  which  mili- 
tates against  good  city  government. 

With  the  conditions  in  our  cities  such  as  they  are, 
it  is,  however,  a  comfort  to  recall  to  mind  the  condi- 
tions which  existed  prior  to  the  opening  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  in  most  of  the  cities  of  the  world,  the 
changes  which  that  century  brought  about  in  those 
conditions,  and  the  fact  that  the  same  forces  which 
were  at  work  throughout  the  nineteenth  century  are 
at  work  at  the  present  time  with  redoubled  energy. 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


If  so  much  has  already  been  accomplished  in  the  past, 
why  should  our  hopes  for  the  future  be  limited  ?  Our 
hopes  for  the  future  are  not  based  so  much  on  any 
change  in  the  legal  position  of  the  city,  or  in  its  ad- 
ministrative reorganization,  as  on  a  real  change  in 
the  character  of  the  city  population.  For  city  life  in 
and  of  itself  may  not  necessarily  be  productive  of  evil 
from  the  point  of  view  of  government.  It  is  the  city 
life  which  we  have  known,  not  the  city  life  which  may 
be,  which  has  so  little  that  augurs  for  good.  Many  of 
the  forces  which  are  now  at  work  were  not  at  work  a 
generation  ago,  and  it  may  take  more  than  a  genera- 
tion, more  perhaps  than  two  generations,  to  accom- 
plish what  is  desired. 

Furthermore,  it  must  always  be  remembered  that 
the  mind  dissatisfied  with  the  present  and  striving  for 
improvement  is  prone  to  exaggerate  the  evils  it  de- 
sires to  remedy.  City  government  in  the  United 
States  is  not  by  any  means  ideally  good.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  neither  by  any  means  wholly  bad,  nor  is  it 
deteriorating.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  steadily  improv- 
ing. The  improvement  is  particularly  marked  in 
what  may  be  called  its  physical  side :  the  streets  are 
better  paved  and  cleaner  than  they  were ;  the  material 
and  intellectual  conditions  of  city  life  offer  to  the 
urbanite  greater  opportunities  than  they  once  did ;  the 
decrease  in  the  death-rate,  which  is  so  characteristic 
of  modern  cities,  in  and  of  itself  is  a  most  encouraging 
sign. 

The  improvement  in  city  government  is  not,  fur- 
ther, confined  to  its  physical  side.  The  character  of 
city  officers  and  their  attitude  toward  the  people 

306 


CONCLUSIONS 


whom  they  are  supposed  to  serve,  and  whose  inter- 
ests they  are  supposed  to  safeguard,  are  less  blame- 
worthy than  they  once  were.  The  fraud  and  corrup- 
tion of  which  we  hear  so  much  are  less  glaring  and 
less  open  than  they  once  were,  although  there  is  un- 
fortunately still  by  far  too  much  room  for  improve- 
ment. 

There  is,  therefore,  notwithstanding  the  complaints 
which  are  continually  coming  to  our  notice,  no  real 
ground  for  discouragement.  The  very  existence  of 
these  complaints  is  a  proof  of  dis.satisfaction  with 
existing  conditions.  It  is  only  after  it  has  been  ascer- 
tained that  conditions  are  not  what  they  should  be, 
and  only  when  there  is  a  dissatisfaction  with  those 
conditions,  that  their  improvement  is  po.ssible. 

We  have  thus  reason  for  enthusia.sm  in  the  work  of 
municipal  reform,  but  our  attempts  at  reform  should 
not  be  confined  to  the  mere  structure  of  city  or  state 
government.  They  should  be  directed  also  toward 
improving  the  social  conditions  of  our  cities.  Politi- 
cal reform  should  not,  of  course,  be  neglected,  because 
every  improvement  in  the  political  conditions  makes 
for  improvement  in  social  conditions.  Almost  every 
cause,  therefore,  which  is  dear  to  the  hearts  of  a  cer- 
tain portion  of  the  people  is  an  important  one  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  improvement  of  municipal 
conditions.  Ballot  and  nomination  reform  and  civil- 
service  reform  will,  if  the  concrete  measures  advocated 
are  well  considered,  improve  the  political  conditions 
of  our  cities.  Charity  reform,  pri.son  reform,  re- 
form of  moral  conditions,  neighborhood  settlements, 
and,  last  but  not  least,  the  efforts  of  the  various 

307 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


churches  will,  if  the  concrete  measures  advocated 
are  wisely  conceived,  do  much  to  ameliorate  the 
social  conditions.  There  is  no  social  reform,  however 
slight,  which  does  not  make  easier  the  solution  of  the 
political  problem ;  for  the  difficulty  of  the  political 
problem  in  cities  is  in  large  part  due  to  the  social 
conditions  of  the  city  population.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  is  no  political  reform  which  does  not,  in  its 
turn,  aid  in  the  amelioration  of  social  conditions ;  for 
improvement  in  social  conditions  is,  in  many  instances, 
possible  only  where  there  is  a  reasonably  good  political 
organization. 


308 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Accounts  of  cities,  300 

Administrative  control  of 
cities,  101,  175 
districts  of  cities,  200 
system  of  United  States,  69 

Alien  poor,  care  of,  251 

Appointment  vs.  election,  113 

Assessment  of  taxes  in 
Chicago,  292 

Assessors  in  cities,  290 

Audit  of  accounts,  300 

Auditor  of  city,  299 

Birth-rate  in  cities,  4 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Appor- 
tionment in  New  York,  296 
system  of  city  government, 

origin  of,  62 
system  of  city  government, 
bipartizan  boards,  64 
Boards  of  education  in  cities, 
203 
estimate,  295 
vs.  commissioners,  191 
Budget  of  city,  297 

Charities'  administration,  248 
care  of  alien  poor,  251 
care  of  insane  poor,  251 
early  methods  of,  248 
extent  of  city  functions  rela- 
tive to,  252 
organization  of  city  poor 

authority,  254 
separation  of  from  correc- 
tion, 250 
state  control  of,  in  cities, 
258 


Charters  of  cities,  general 

vs.  special,  32 
Chicago,  assessment  of  taxes 

in,  292 

Municipal  Voters'  League, 
132 

Children 's  courts  in  cities,  211 
Cities,  birth-rate  in,  4 
causes  of,  9 
death-rate  in,  16,  19 
distribution  of  property  in, 
14,  15 

in  England  in  eighteenth 

century,  31 
in  Europe,  position  of,  76 
family  life  in,  15 
in  feudal  age,  26 
functions  of,  36 
historical  sketch  of  develop- 
ment of,  26 
immigration  into,  4 
influence  of  commerce  on,  10 
influence  of  factory  system 
on,  10 

percentage  of  total  popula- 
tion in,  6 
physical  conditions  of,  in 

olden  times,  274 
political  position  of,  23 
in  Koman  Empire,  26 
sociological  character  of,  3,  8 
state  control  of,  89 
subjection  of  to  state,  28 
tendency  of  toward  oligar- 
chical government,  31 
Cities  in  United  States,  agents 
of  state,  55 
authorities  of  enumerated 
powers,  74 


INDEX 


Cities  in  United  States- 
continued 
have  lost  their  autonomy,  77 
origin  of  board  system  of 

government  in,  62 
present  position  of  council 
in,  154 

change  in  organization  of,  59 
change  in  position  of,  55 
may  make  their  own  charters, 
92 

constitutional  limitation  of 
power  of  legislature  over,  91 
decay  of  council  in,  139 
creatures  of  legislature,  72 
Judge  Dillon 's  rule  as  to 

powers  of,  74 
election  of  oflSeers  in,  113 
financial  powers  of,  75 
history  of,  43 
original  judicial  functions, 

206 

influence  of  political  parties 
on,  61 

legislative  interference  with, 

57,  84 
mayor,  176 

mayor  made  elective,  60 
original  organization  of,  48 
original  position  of,  45 
original  sphere  of  action  of, 
52 

nomination  of  oflScers,  121 
political  parties  and,  79 
special  legislation  as  to,  77 
suffrage  in,  109 
originally  had  no  power  of 

taxation,  53 
Citizens'  Union  in  New  York, 

131 

City,  an  agent  of  the  state,  35 
a  creature  of  the  state  gov- 
ernment, 24 
a  grade  of  local  government, 
24 

meaning  of  term,  3 
an  organ  of  local  govern- 
ment, 35 


City — continued 

a  political  organization,  22 
not  formerly  self -perpetuat- 
ing, 4 
a  social  fact,  1 
social  significance  of,  3 
administrative  districts,  200 
civil  service,  183 
boards  vs.  commissioners, 
191 

British  system  of,  186 
United  States  system  of 
189 

City  council,  137 

central  administrative  con- 
trol of,  175 

decay  of  in  United  States, 
139 

effects  of  decay  of  in 

United  States,  144 
manner  of  election  of,  156 
financial  powers  of,  169 
reaction  in  favor  of  in 

United  States,  147 
minority  representation  in, 

156 

ordinance  power  of,  164 

powers  of,  161 

power  to  determine  sphere  of 

municipal  activity,  167 
power  of  to  incur  debts,  174 
term  of  members  of,  160 
City  courts,  205 

unsatisfactory  character  of 

in  United  States,  213 
children 's  courts,  211 
importance  of,  212 
method  of  filling  position  of 

members  of,  210 
origin  of,  50 
probation  officers  of,  211 
elections,  105,  109 
City  government,  complex 

character  of,  114 
heads  of  departments,  189 
life,  improvement  in,  19 
City  influence  of  on  character, 

16 


INDEX 


City  officers,  appointment  vs. 
election,  113 

direct  nomination  of,  126 

nomination  of,  121 

nomination  of  by  petition, 
126 

parties,  130 
City  police  justices,  209 
City  population,  character  of,  13 
City  property,  control  of,  170 
City  state,  23 

City  taxes,  power  to  levy,  171 
Cleveland  school  system,  270 
Commerce,  influence  of  on 

cities,  10 
Commissioners  vs.  boards,  191 
Correctional  administration. 

See  Charities. 
Council  vs.  mayor,  149,  180 
Cumulative  voting,  157 

Death-rate  in  cities,  16,  19 

lowering  of,  19 
Debts,  power  of  city  to  incur, 
173 

Departments.    See  Executive 
Departments. 

Educational  administration. 

See  School  Administration. 
Election  vs.  appointment,  113 
English  city,  narrow  sphere  of 

action  originally,  44 
Estimate,  boards  of,  295 
Executive  departments  in 

cities,  189 

Factory  system,  influence  of 

on  cities,  10 
Family  life  in  cities,  15 
Fassett   Committee,   report  of 

on  cities,  78 
Financial  administration,  286 

auditing  of  accounts,  300 

auditor,  299 

boards  of  estimate,  295 

budget  of  city,  297 


Financial  Administration — 
continued 
disbursing  officers  of  city, 
299 

city  expenditures,  295 
city  receipts,  286 
city  tax  assessors,  290 
local  assessments,  294 
state  audit  of  city  accounts, 
301 

tax  authorities,  289 
treasurer,  299 
powers  of  city  council,  169 
Foreign  relations  not  a  city 

function,  37 
' '  Free  List  ' '  system  of  voting, 
159 

Fusion  in  New  York  city,  130 

Governor,  position  of  in 
United  States,  70 
power  of  to  remove  mayor, 
182 

Heads  of  departments,  in 

cities,  189 
Health  authorities,  organiza- 
tion of,  238 
Health  ordinances,  236 
Home  rule.    See  Municipal 

Home  Eule. 
Howard,  John,  influence  of  on 
prisons,  250 

Immigration  into  cities,  4,  5 
Initiative  in  cities,  118 
Insane  poor,  care  of,  251 
Interference  of  state  with 
cities,  32 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  his  dislike 

of  cities,  18 
Judicial  functions  of  cities,  205 
Justice  not  a  city  function,  37 

Legislative  control  of  cities,  73 
constitutional  limitation  of, 91 
ineffective,  99 

313 


INDEX 


Licenses,  234 
Limited  voting,  157 
Liquor,  etc.,  licenses,  234 
Local  assessments,  171,  294 

Mayor,  judicial  functions  of, 
183 

elected  by  people  of  city,  60, 
176 

original  position  of,  49 
present  position  of,  176 
power  of  appointment  of,  66, 

178,  179 
power  of  governor  to  remove, 

182 

power  of  removal  of,  66,  178, 
179 

powers  of,  176 
term  of,  182 

Mayor  system  of  city  govern- 
ment, origin  of,  65 

Military  affairs  not  a  city  func- 
tion, 37 

Minnesota,  direct  nomination 
of  city  oflBcers  in,  127 

Missouri  plan  of  freeholders ' 
charters,  92 

Municipal  action,  determina- 
tion of  sphere  of,  40 

Municipal  functions,  36 

Municipal  home  rule, 
meaning  of,  33 

Municipal  Voters '  League  in 
Chicago,  132 

New  York  Board  of  Estimate 
and  Apportionment,  296 

Citizens '  Union  in,  131 

early  charters  of,  46 

fusion  in,  130 
Nomination  of  city  officers,  121 

direct  nomination,  126 

by  petition,  122 

regulation  of  primaries,  128 
Nuisances,  237 


Ordinance  power  of  city  coun- 
cil, 164 


Parish  constables  in  cities, 
214 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  metropolitan 

police  bill  of,  215 
Philadelphia,  City  Hall  of,  85 

early  charters  of,  46 
Police  administration,  204 
adoption  of  London  system 

in  United  States,  221 
early  American  systems  of, 
218 

defects  of  American  police, 
228 

boards  vs.  commissioners, 

226 
licenses,  234 
London  system,  215 
state  appointment  of  city 

police  commission,  222 
justices  in  cities,  209 
ordinance  power,  164 
Political  causes  of  cities,  10 
parties,  control  of  over 

cities,  104 
influence  of  on  cities,  61,  79 
Poor  law  administration,  248. 

See  Charities. 
Population,  cause  of  increase 
of,  in  cities,  7 
percentage  of  in  cities,  6 
Position  of  cities,  39 
Preservation  of  the  peace,  214. 

See  Police  Administration. 
Primary  regulations,  128 
Probation  officers  in  cities,  211 
Property,  distribution  of  in 

cities,  14,  15 
Proportional  representation,  158 
Public  health  administration, 
235 

powers  of  health  authorities, 

242 

remedies  against  action  of 

health  authorities,  245 
state  control  of  in  cities,  240 
nuisances,  237 
Public  safety,  235.    See  Police 
Administration. 


314 


INDEX 


Public  works '  administration, 
274 

importance  of,  283 
necessity  of  records,  279 
organization  of  authorities, 
276 


Eeferendum  in  cities,  118 

Sanitary  administration,  235. 
See  Public  Health, 
authorities,  organization  of, 
238 

ordinances,  236 
School  administration,  262 

organization  of  school  au- 
thorities, 263 

board  of  education,  263 

early  methods,  262 

extent  of,  263 

school-board,  263 

school-director  in  Cleveland, 
270 

separation  of  physical  from 
educational  administra- 
tion, 269 

superintendent  of  schools, 
269 

state  control  of  in  cities,  271 
teachers,  how  appointed,  269 
Separate  city  elections,  105 
New  York  plan,  106 
Massachusetts  plan,  107 


Special  legislation,  77 

in  Illinois,  98 

prohibition  of,  93 

rule  as  to  in  New  York,  97 

rule  as  to  in  Ohio,  95 

what  is,  94 
Sphere  of  municipal  activity, 

power  to  determine,  167 
State  control  of  cities,  89 

audit  of  city  accounts,  301 

of  city  finances,  301 

of  charities '  administra- 
tion, 258 

of  police  in  cities,  222 

of  schools  in  cities,  271 

See  Administrative  Control. 

See  Legislative  Control. 
State  police,  advantages  of, 
223 

Suffrage,  in  cities,  109 

relation  between  state  and 
city,  110 

Tax  assessors,  290 

authorities,  289 
Taxes,  in  cities,  286 

city's  power  to  levy,  171 
Treasurer  of  city,  299 

Universal  suffrage  in  cities, 
109 

Voting.    See  Elections,  Limit- 
ed Voting,  Cumulative 
Voting. 


315 


